This woodland and garden Sanctuary in Southwest France was already underway when Julian was told recently that he has stage 4 Liver Cancer and only a few months left to live. Funding is urgently needed now so he can know before he dies that this dream will be completed. The money you give will help create something which is a celebration of him and which leaves a place to be shared by others in need of respite - a living reminder of him and his dream.
Julian, now 58, has been my husband for 25 years and is the father of three grown up children. He is a joiner and carpenter by trade who has worked on many historic buildings in Scotland. Julian has poured his heart and soul into beginning something with so much potential to be of benefit - pushing on with this dream to make an extraordinary sanctuary and garden after he was recovering from a stem cell transplant in 2013 as part of treatment for an earlier cancer. He sees the sanctuary as a permaculture life project.
The benefits of having time out in nature to restore health were huge during his previous illnesses – soothing away so much fear and tension we had been holding while he was undergoing treatment.
The idea that we all need an inner sanctum is ancient, and for this inner safe space to be reflected outside and grounded in a physical place has always been important to people.
Let me tell you about this place: the 2.5-acre site is a medieval limestone quarry ideal for making a garden in, which is surrounded by natural woodland – there is no house or planning permission to build on this land and it’s not of commercial value. Bought in 2005, we used it for wild camping, gradually clearing the place up within the limits of our means. The locals love that we have cleaned up the land! We have already done a lot of work to reclaim the quarry bottom. The atmosphere there is extraordinarily peaceful and awaits a garden to be made within it.
For accommodation, there’s an old forward command post vehicle built just after the second world war which came with the land. A secondary roof was due to be built over the truck this summer which is needed urgently to protect and preserve it from water damage. There is also an old LDV vehicle which can be converted for accommodation which has not yet been started on.
You can find pictures of the quarry in the updates for this project, or at the following link:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/151040815@N03/p3s15d
What is needed next: roofing, insulating and cladding of the accommodation, fitting of solar panels, plumbing, and drainage. Creating the garden means building stone walls and berms, bringing in topsoil and drilling for the abundant water underneath. We intend to make natural pond systems with a stream winding through different garden areas before recycling with a solar pump.
Julian has a ‘top’ attitude – I never heard him complain once through all his treatments and their many side effects. He is resolute about both living and dying. My aim is for him to die knowing he has handed on something which can be completed. There will be a celebratory gathering there for what would have been his 6oth birthday in two years time.
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Callum's Trust
We are linking with Callum's Trust, a local charity that provides support for patients undergoing treatment for lymphoma, leukemia or myeloma (the cancer Julian had treatment for previously) and any cancer patient receiving palliative care . Our aim is for others to find access to the sanctuary when it is completed. They are currently supporting our project through sharing this crowd-funder on their website:
http://callumstrust.org
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You can find more information about permaculture gardens here:
