Scenic Hotel in Norton Summit will improve mental health in Adelaide Hills with its Topsoil Garden

What does a pub, a patch of land and a team of mental health professionals have in common? It’s all about setting a place at the table – for everyone.

When Jay Marinis bought an old pub in Norton Summit nearly two years ago, his plans were far greater than stripping back some daggy wallpaper and adding on-trend items to the menu.

The Scenic Hotel, he explains, is the linchpin of a plan to improve the lives of people experiencing mental illness – and he’s now calling on the community to help get the next part of the project off – or, on – the ground.

The Topsoil Garden Project will transform a 2ha patch of land opposite the hotel into a working produce garden and greenhouse, for small group nature-based therapies. Participants will ultimately have the opportunity to sell the produce back to the hotel, which will then be used in pay-what-you-can dinners for the entire community.

“So the participants get to grow the vegetables, see out the season, make connection with the therapists and social workers, then if they so choose they can present what they’ve grown in a harvest dinner,” said Mr Marinis, a provisional therapist with experience in Adelaide’s hospitality scene.

Lilly Stephens, Jay Marinis, Rose Lacoon Williamson and Laura Miller of the Topsoil Garden Project. Photo: Kelly Barnes

“There’ll be optional hospitality training provided through the pub and kitchen training on how to cook the food that you grow. In the downtime, the hotel becomes a registered training organisation to provide skills and also a platform for our participants to showcase what they’ve done.”

Team Topsoil includes Mr Marinis, social impact practitioner Rose Williamson, mental health nurse Laura Miller, gardener Lilly Stephens and project manager (and pub third part-owner) Enoch Yates. And they’re in the final days of a crowd-funding campaign to raise $46,000 and bring the initiative to life.

Connection is at the core of the project. National Disability Insurance Scheme figures from 2018 show more than a quarter (28 per cent) of NDIS participants aged 18-24 don’t have friends other than family or paid staff. Ms Williamson, who met Mr Marinis while working in some of Adelaide’s better known restaurants, says two years of isolation and social distancing because of Covid have compounded this problem – and make the timing of Topsoil vital.

She and Mr Marinis believe hospitality in Adelaide has moved away from its purpose.

“These days we look at new hospitality venues opening that are full of beautiful people with the best of intentions but much like anything, when we put a capitalist lens over something that is intensely human, we f--k it up,” she said.

Outdoor terrace at the Scenic Hotel, Norton Summit.

Rose Lacoon Williamson with Jay Marinis and some produce, which will eventually go to the Summit Hotel kitchen. Picture: Kelly Barnes

“We’re seeing hospitality as an industry in SA moving further away from its principles, which is welcoming people into spaces, making them feel seen, heard, loved, appreciated, part of something … they’re being superseded by what is the coolest, most exclusive experience that we can facilitate right now? And we wonder – was that the point?”

The Scenic Hotel is already known for its inclusive nature, but the future long-table harvest dinners will magnify its potential, Mr Marinis says.

“You’ll sit where you’re sat – you might be a really wealthy person; an investment banker, and you might get to learn something about somebody else,” he said.

“That’s how someone who is struggling with a child finds a job opportunity – anything could happen.

“It’s trying not only to provide participants with a platform to express themselves and find worth, but it’s also about everyone realising the worth of people other than themselves. It’s about making everyone aware that everyone has intrinsic value.

“Everyone has a place at the table.”

Donations are open until May 1. Visit startsomegood.com/topsoil-the-garden-project