An outdoor safe space for veterans

Aim

A unique, safe meeting space for veterans, especially women, where horticultural therapy, events and workshops will improve mental health.

Veterans Outdoors is both the ‘25/’26 Veterans Charity of the Year and the UK Veterans’ Mental Health Charity of the Year. To celebrate these remarkable accolades, the charity is building a ‘greenshoots hub’ to become an outdoor centre of excellence for the innovative programme of wraparound care that Veterans Outdoors offers military veterans.  

Generous funders have already pledged £185,000 towards the project. We are now seeking an additional £55,000 in order to complete the learning centre and turn this exciting dream into reality. 

Renowned for its support for female veterans, the charity has designed a secluded site with a horticultural growing area, a classroom/learning centre, an outdoor firepit with seating area and a small office/counselling room. Our large cohort of women veterans have told us they want a private space where they can express themselves and talk freely about their experiences in and out of service. Based in the heart of the South West, with easy access to estuary, woodland and moorland walks nearby, the site will play a major role in veterans’ recovery programmes allowing beneficiaries to work with, and appreciate, the patterns of nature. Anxieties are lowered, confidence is raised, friends are made and problem-solving becomes easier.

 And the site will also be home to Veterans Outdoors’ ground-breaking programme of emotional resilience courses which help veterans to struggle with the everyday situations that many struggle with – understanding emotions, setting boundaries, approaching difficult conversations, entering crowded or noise spaces etc.

 The charity, which receives referrals each week from the NHS’s mental health services, GP Surgeries and other veteran support organisations, has a 99-year lease on its site from which it will also work with a range of local community, educational and environmental organisations. Please help this remarkable charity in its work, changing the lives of so many who have given so much for their country.  

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 1st July 2026 at 12:12pm