Veteran Trees
A therapeutic woodland programme for Veterans from Kent and Medway
Across 2020 - 2022 we ran Veteran Trees, a project which introduces Veterans to the woodland as a resource that promotes mental and physical health, and social wellbeing. Together, we have explored a range of nature based activities including forge and fire, green woodworking, bushcraft, archery, basket making, blacksmith and leather work.
Veteran Trees supported Veterans who are experiencing social isolation and in need of mental health support, and those looking to connect with a community of Veterans in a relaxed, social woodland environment and Veterans who would like to volunteer. This project was supported by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, and across the two years we worked with a community of 45 Veterans.
We need your help
This project is currently on pause, until we are able to secure future funding.
Our hope is for Veteran Trees to become a permanent facility for the Veteran community in Kent & Medway, and to do this we need to share the voices of Veterans and tell funders why Veterans think this programme is important. We need YOUR help!
If you are a Veteran, or serving personnel transitioning out of the Armed Forces, please fill out a short form and tell us how Veteran Trees has/could help you.
To quote some of the Veterans we have worked with…
“I’ve not really socialised for about 5 months, so it’s helped me to get out of the house to find a new purpose with likeminded people and start socialising again…the woodland is chilled out, I feel less stressed out, it’s not rushed and has eased me into social situations…it’s the banter you don’t get in civilian life…it’s integrated me back into something, when I’ve been a part of nothing.”
“With Veteran Trees, you get that camaraderie that you once had in the army that you can't find anywhere in civvy street. And it's funny. It's just brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I can't get enough.”
“Veteran Trees works. Doesn't matter how long we've been out of service, or what service we were in. We've still got that family feeling, that camaraderie you miss when you leave.”
“On a personal basis I found it very useful to fit back into the veterans community. It's been very beneficial to me, my mental health and my family situation. I feel like I belong to something for once.”
Veterans Trees Partnerships
Supported by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust’s Force for Change Programme, we’ve been working with Nick Parry, the High Intensity Service Veterans Clinical Lead for Kent and Medway (HIS), to run a Veteran Trees programme for Veterans referred through the High Intensity Service for Kent and Medway. HIS is part of a trio of specialist mental health support for Veterans known as Op COURAGE.
With Groundwork South, we’ve also run two additional Veteran Trees woodland craft camps, supported by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust. Each residential supported Veterans to work on a range of traditional woodland crafts including green woodworking, basket making, blacksmith, fibre craft and leather work.
Earthcraftuk has signed up to The Armed Forces Covenant. A promise by the nation that those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, and their families, should be treated fairly and should not face disadvantages when seeking to access public or private goods and services in the UK.
