WELCOME TO OUR FRIENDS OF HIGHGROUND NEWSLETTER!
 



LIFE BEYOND THE MILITARY – OUTDOORS

WELCOME TO OUR FIRST NEWSLETTER OF 2019


2018 has been a great year at HighGround and I’m so proud that not only does Carol’s Headley Court legacy continue at Stanford Hall, but it has also been recognised in the Queen’s New Year Honours with the award of the British Empire Medal.

We thank everyone for their support, interest and encouragement in 2018 – there is much to do in 2019..!

Anna BC
Founder and Development Director

Carol

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 community of Friends who will promote and facilitate the work of HighGround.

Whilst 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. Currently our pressing fundraising challenge is to raise the funds (£90,000) to recruit and employ a full time 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…

BECOME A FRIEND OF HIGHGROUND

HORTICULTURAL THERAPY

Our preparations at Stanford Hall for the start of the Horticultural Therapy service are now well advanced and the magnificent greenhouse built using the original Foster and Pearson fittings and adapted specially to accommodate our unique client group is nearly ready.

Jane ran some Christmas wreath making sessions for patients which proved to be very popular and as long as the weather holds for long enough to lay the floor tiles, we should be good to go in early January. You can follow Jane’s Monthly Journal here; and Andy’s Instagram account is here.

Stanford Hall
Christmas

PROFILE: CHRIS SHEPHERD

We couldn’t deliver Rural Weeks at Bicton College without Chris who runs the Timetable and organises all the wonderful visits to farms, golf clubs, nature reserves and so much more.

READ CHRIS’S STORY HERE

RURAL WEEKS

Our 2018 Rural Weeks programme at Bicton finished in December with a full house as we welcomed 10 Service Leavers and Veterans for a week of presentations and visits, all organised by the wonderful Chris Shepherd.

In 2018 we have delivered 7 Rural Weeks for serving personnel and veterans from all 3 services; our youngest HighGrounder was 20, and the oldest 62.

We thank our wonderful funders, and look forward to the start of our 2019 Rural Weeks programme on 31st March.

READ MORE

Rural Week
Rural Week team

HMP DARTMOOR

Following a request from the Governor, Chris Shepherd and Anna delivered the first of 2 pilot ‘Rural Experiences’ (only 3 days so we couldn’t call it a week….) in late November for 8 veteran inmates at HMP Dartmoor. The 2nd pilot will be in March 2019 and the results will be reviewed and evaluated in April.

One inmate who joined us for the 3 days commented:

“It made me realise that a lot of the military experience we have gained is transferable and can actually be an asset to potential employers. The more opportunities we are given the less likely people are to reoffend. This also gives us a light at the end of the tunnel and given me more positivity that we can still build a future with hard work and that a criminal record does not end your employability.”

We are currently seeking funding to run the second pilot, please contact Anna if you would like more details.

Rural Experiences

FUNDRAISING NEWS

At HighGround we are all very proud that The Royal Foundation has chosen to support our work and you can read our Chairman’s statement here. We hope you will all join us in 2019 to raise awareness and funding so HighGround can continue to deliver and develop our work Life beyond the military – Outdoors.

THE ROYAL FOUNDATION

GOOD NEWS

Catch up with updates about what our HighGrounders have been doing including Danny’s visit to Stanford Hall and Paul’s new job.

READ MORE
Good news
Good news

PLANS FOR 2019

The Steering Group are developing a seed-sharing initiative to promote the work of HighGround. It’s a simple concept and the Spring Newsletter will have more details. Let HighGround find a place in your garden.

NEW FRIENDS

Since we sent our Autumn Newsletter out, 23 people have signed up to become Friends of HighGround from Essex, Aberdeen, and even someone who lives in Cyprus! Help us to spread the word by encouraging your friends to become Friends. It’s free and means they can keep up to date with our plans and progress as we continue to support those who have served.

BECOME A FRIEND OF HIGHGROUND

FRIENDS OF HIGHGROUND
BECOME A FRIEND OF HIGHGROUND

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.

Thank you for reading and please do share this email with anybody you think may be interested in supporting HighGround or who may be in need of our support.

Copyright © 2019 HighGround, All rights reserved.
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Our mailing address is:
HighGround, c/o, The London Scottish Regiment, 95 Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2DX

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Charity Reg No: 1151225. Limited Company No: 08236843