Veterans' Growth

Veterans' Growth is a charity dedicated to helping ex-service personnel (men and women 18+) who are suffering from mental heath issues. We provide this through horticultural therapy and support at our site. Having your support means we will be in a position to provide help and support and to welcome more veterans.

www.veteransgrowth.org

Latest News

Hanging Basket Workshop for both Veterans and Civilians

On Saturday 8^th May we hosted our first group workshop since the last lockdown. Adhering to government guidelines, this workshop was outside and limited to 6 places of groups of two only, where we could ensure social distancing and safety at all times. We opened the workshop up to both veterans', their families and civilians. Everyone had a fantastic morning and got to take their master piece home with them. Veterans' Growth supplied all the plants, materials and tools and all we asked for was a small donation. We hope you enjoy the photos as much as our participants enjoyed their morning creating their hanging baskets.

Providing on-site disabled friendly car parking

We would like to re-surface our main car park and provide disabled friendly parking bays for our veterans and their families.

We need to ensure our car park meets the relevant health and safety guidelines and is accessible to everyone, to include disabled car parking. In order for us to achieve this we need to raise some funds. Can you help us achieve our goal?

A word from Claire Vokins one of our trustees

A word from Claire Vokins a trustee for Veterans' Growth who paid a visit to the site on the 30^th March 2021

Hello everyone!! As a trustee I'm not on site every week, and over the last 12 months with all the legal restrictions on travel, most of my contact with the team at Rocks Farm has been via the wonders of Zoom and telephone calls.

When the government began the ease restrictions, my first port of call was to visit the farm and see for myself the work that has been carried out over the 8-10 months. Well, what a brilliant surprise; the area around the rear of the main house has been cleared, hard landscaped and an outdoor kitchen area installed with seating. All the access pathways around the property have been laid and the accessibility ramp from car park to residential units is now in place.

You may have seen on our social media posts that one of the veterans has built a covered area for smoking access. He built this alone, over a period of a few weeks, and it looks great.

Trees that have fallen have been re-used to create walling around the orchard area and boundary lines. More beds have been created for growing produce and the poly tunnel is already filled with young seedlings ready to get this years growing season off to a flying start. With Sarah Wilson at the helm of the horticultural side, WE are really learning, and teaching veterans how everything can be re-used to create a wonderfully biodiverse site.

And finally, I can't ignore our two new recruits, Eric and Ernie the pigs. Currently lazing away in pig heaven, built by a team of local builders, with the help of our Saturday Veteran and Jason.

Honestly, if this is what can be achieved in one of the toughest years the UK has faced in recent history, I am so excited to see what we can do over the coming months and years as we move forwards.

A huge thank you to all involved with Veterans Growth, and thank you to everyone who supports us.

Claire Vokins

About us

We currently run courses for veterans in all manner of things from learning how to sow, grow and harvest vegetables, to flower arranging, building bug hotels, stone carving and pottery. Veterans come to site to learn about horticulture and to spend time outdoors, in the fresh air of the amazing countryside which surrounds our 5 acre site. Sometimes just being outdoors surrounded by nature is enough to give someone a boost which lasts for days.

With your help, we would like to extend these courses to veterans' family members and carers, who are often the unsung heroes behind a veteran's journey to wellness. Your donation will allow us to run one-day workshops and taster sessions in some of the activities the veterans take part in themselves. The workshops will be sociable and relaxed and family members will have the chance to meet others who are in a similar situation and to share experiences. It's an opportunity for us to celebrate the vital role they play and for them to feel included and valued.

Veterans' Growth was founded by Jason Stevens, a veteran of 16 years in the Army. Jason undertook tours in Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sierra Leone and spent time in Germany. He was medically discharged from the MOD in 2016.

After reading a report of the 42^nd veteran suicide in 2018 and with the number rising on a sometimes daily basis, he knew he had to do something. If he could just save one life no matter the cost he wanted to do it. What better way than the way that still helps him, through horticulture? He sold his business to fund the start of Veterans’ Growth and is committed to providing Horticultural Therapy to Veterans suffering with mental health issues.

The physical and mental health benefits of horticulture have been widely reported. Participants in our programmes gain confidence, knowledge and experience and some will go on to find work experience and employment within the industry. The aim of the charity is to provide support and a place on the programme to every veteran in the UK who wants to attend and/or is unable to access help through other channels. If one life is saved as a result of contact with the charity we will call it a success.