We started 2019 by welcoming several people to Team HighGround – John Kerner has joined the Board of Trustees, Liz Brown is our first ever Hon Sec and we are also delighted to welcome Rhodri Atkins as the first Secretary to the Development Board, and David Steele who joins the Friends Steering Group. They are all hugely welcome and I want to thank them for their interest, enthusiasm and commitment.

The first three months of 2019 have been very busy and we’ve got lots to tell you about so read on, and Enjoy!

Anna BC
Founder and Development Director

FRIENDS OF HIGHGROUND

FHG is the voluntary arm of HighGround which supports and promotes the work of the Charity through fundraising and community awareness initiatives both locally and nationally.

The Vision is to create a network of Friends who will promote and facilitate the work of HighGround.

Whist the majority of our fundraising still comes from grant-making trusts and foundations, by starting the Friends of HighGround our aim is to diversify our funding sources to include more corporate and personal donations.

To that end we have drawn up a Wishlist which we update quarterly. We are making good progress with our fundraising challenge to raise £90,000 to recruit and employ a Rural Employment Manager to co-ordinate work experience and employment opportunities offered by generous landowners, farmers and others in the land-based sector, and support the growing number of Service Leavers and Veterans (our HighGrounders) who come to us in search of Life Beyond the Military – Outdoors. Each item on the Wishlist is currently unfunded, and we hope this will inspire you, our Friends and supporters, to help us raise the funds for all these essential items – we run a pretty tight ship...

HORTICULTURAL THERAPY

Andy and Jane have been very busy at Stanford Hall as the work on the greenhouse continues; it hasn’t been officially handed over as a therapeutic environment yet, but thanks to our friends at Hotboxworld our new heated propagator is sitting on a picnic table in the greenhouse full of germinating seedlings.

We were delighted to welcome Hugh Player and Howard Cattermole from Greenwich Hospital who came to visit on a rather bleak February day to see how their precious support is helping us to develop and improve the Horticultural Therapy service.

Our Gardening Volunteers who have been waiting patiently for the project to start have all now been to visit, and we will keep you updated with their progress.

The raised beds funded by the Army Central Fund and made to Andy’s design by WoodBlocX have arrived and you can follow the build here.

PROFILE: JANE TAYLOR

Jane is a pivotal part of our Horticultural Therapy operation at DMRC Stanford Hall as we continue Carol’s legacy from Headley Court.

RURAL WEEKS

Our 2019 Rural Weeks programme at Bicton College starts on 31st March as we deliver our 25th Rural Week – yet another milestone!

We are delighted that Rhodri Atkins has agreed to become the first Secretary to the Development Board – he brings energy, enthusiasm and first-class communication skills to this vital role.

Fundraising for our new Rural Employment Manager continues apace and with the support of The Royal Foundation we are all looking forward to taking HighGround’s land-based employment to a new level in 2019.

HMP DARTMOOR

Anna and Chris Shepherd returned to HMP Dartmoor in March to deliver the 2nd of two pilot Rural Experiences to veteran inmates and the results of both pilots will now be evaluated.

Huge thanks to all our speakers and presenters; we have learned so much and will act upon our lessons.

PARLIAMENTARY RECEPTION

We had a reception in the Strangers’ Dining Room on 4th March to raise awareness of HighGround’s work across both Houses.

Tobias Ellwood Minister for Defence People and Veterans addressed our guests and stayed to listen to John, Joel and Ed representing the Army, RAF, and Royal Marines, who spoke so eloquently about their engagement with HighGround.

We signed up lots of new Friends of HighGround, including the Minister..! You can view the photos on Flickr.

GOOD NEWS

Catch up with stories about our HighGrounders here including Ian’s new chapter, Life Beyond the Military – Outdoors.

GDPR AND OUR STANDARDS

GDPR came into effect on 25th May 2018. We had an extremely busy run up to this date, but our small team were able to pull out all the stops and get things in place in time. As a charity we take GDPR and the security of your information very seriously. To this end, we have ensured that all of our data processors comply rigorously to keep everything secure. You can read about our Standards here.

WELCOME TO OUR SPRING NEWSLETTER