Our Stories: Meet Tony

Meet Tony from Cross Green Growing Together

“I come to the Digital Skills sessions at Cross Green Growing Together. I get free SIM cards, but every 6 months my phone number changes. I hadn’t realised people were trying to get in touch with me because they had an old number. That caused a bit of upset with my housing and benefits. They were going to repossess my house. Kelly and Mary helped at the session and sorted it all out. Now we’re setting it up so I can still get the free SIM cards but I can keep the same number so it won’t happen again. 

We’ve also been sorting my phone out. I find technology hard sometimes. I’m dyslexic. I’m not very good at reading and writing. I don’t do texts and stuff like that, so we’ve started looking at how to do voice notes. We’ve taken off apps I don’t need because there was too much. And we’ve put things on the screen where I can find them. 

I’ve been coming to Cross Green Growing Together since the beginning. I helped put up the greenhouse. I’ve done all sorts – digging and planting. And I’ve had bits from here that we’ve grown – potatoes and veg, and the strawberries when they’re out. 

Coming back here since the pandemic has built my confidence up again. I’ve learnt a lot and I’ve been helped a lot here. It’s helped me to cope with my depression and things like that. When I’m down, if I come here, it picks me up again. I’m not thinking about the other things in my head, I’m thinking about what I’m doing. It’s nice to know that there’s somewhere I can go and not feel down, not feel unwanted.” 

Cross Green Growing Together host a range of activities at their community garden and hub. From gardening groups and cooking sessions, to after school clubs and coffee mornings they take a holistic approach to meeting the needs of their residents. They’ve had a number of grants from Leeds Community Foundation, including a Leeds Digital Inclusion Fund grant to support their digital skills sessions.