Ipswich financial professional turns to horticulture career
Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 13 Nov, 13:32 · Archive
Lucy Howard, 41, left wealth management to pursue horticulture after discovering gardening helped her through postnatal depression.
Lucy Howard, 41, from Ipswich, has left her career in wealth management to pursue horticulture. She worked in London and Ipswich in the financial sector before having premature twins in 2019, after which she struggled with postnatal depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Howard discovered the therapeutic value of gardening during this period. She would spend time in the vegetable patch at 4am after feeding the babies, finding the hours before the rest of the household woke to be 'magical'. During the Covid-19 lockdowns, she spent even more time gardening, with her children learning and playing in the garden and greenhouse as she planned and grew vegetables.
Convinced by the positive impact of gardening on her wellbeing, Howard decided to build a career around it. In 2021, after a 16-year break from education, she enrolled on an RHS Level 2 Practical course at Suffolk New College's Suffolk Rural campus at Otley. She found the mature student experience different from university, describing it as more relaxed, with fellow students who genuinely wanted to be there.
How it is being reported
- Ipswich financial professional leaves desk job for career in horticultureFormer financial worker Lucy Howard of Ipswich, Suffolk, has swapped her desk job for a career in gardening after overcoming postnatal depressionEast Anglian Daily Times · 13 Nov, 13:00
- Ipswich financial professional leaves desk job for career in horticultureFormer financial worker Lucy Howard of Ipswich, Suffolk, has swapped her desk job for a career in gardening after overcoming postnatal depressionIpswich Star · 13 Nov, 13:00
In this story: Lucy Howard · Ipswich · Suffolk New College · RHS
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