RRW53 – Service, Seniority and Sunshine
June 24, 2026
A full course, and unusually, all serving personnel, consisting of 3 Army, 3 RAF, 1 Royal Navy and 1 Royal Marines, with a seriously impressive total in years of service. We knew from the start this would be a week of amazing insight, reflection, engaging conversation, deep questions and a lot of laughter – what a week!
CEO – Jamie and Ops Manager – Heather, with Simon Caraffi (Chair of Trustees), and Trustee, Charles Bennet made for a busy Sunday evening course start. Charles is a relatively new Trustee and was taking the opportunity to follow the group for 24 hrs to gain a good understanding of rural weeks which helps inform his role.
Added to this, Sarah Fern, Membership and Relations Manager from The CLA also joined us for a day later in the week. HighGround is delighted to be a Lifetime Member of the CLA, who have a veterans initiative. Sarah’s first hand experience of rural weeks and the opportunity to talk with such an engaged group will further strengthen how we work together.
Regular readers will know the rural week involves a variety of visits to different sectors within the land-based economy allowing the group to gain first hand understanding of the realities of the work, opportunities available, what is needed and most importantly, what is not needed, in order to transition into that area
The week gives beneficiaries a rare chance to focus on what is next in their careers; time that allows them to take a deep dive into what is important. This approach helps them decide on a pathway that fits their whole life.
Our evening speakers this week were Jim Holland of Carma Earth a veteran and dynamic and positive advocate for HighGround; along with Steve Tompkins Artemis Land Management also a veteran who has developed a programme to help service leavers gain qualifications and employment in the deer management sector. Both spoke eloquently of their transition journeys and how they found what they now do in post-military lives.
These weeks would be nothing without the support of some amazing people and organisations.
This week, the group explored the following sectors:
Agri-Tech – Andy Irvine and Chris Giles John Deere
Agriculture – Kevin Bond of Home Farm, Bicton College
Woodland Management – with John Herbert of Clinton Devon Estates
Organic Crops and Livestock – Rodney Hall of Roddy’s Organics
Aboriculture – with Kirsty, Matt and Rhys of Hi-Line Tree Services
Equine industry – with Jason Loosemore of Exeter Racecourse
Wildlife Conservation – with Toby Taylor from RSPB Aylesbeare Common
Landscaping – with Chris Bolton of Tony Benger Landscaping
Heritage Gardening – with Karl Emaleus, Head Gardener at Killerton House
Greenkeeping – with Terry Farkins and Andy George at Woodbury Park Golf Club
Forest School – Nick Murphy of The Outdoors Group
Land Agent – with Mark Butler, Land Agent at Duchy of Cornwall
Self employment Jamie Ranson (tree surgeon and hedge layer) Langore Tree Services
Smallholding – Debbie Kingsley South Yeo Farm West
Gin distilling and rare breeds – Mark and Dawn Rees Gotland Gin
Rural Estate Management – Ian Bowler of Bowler Oakfield
The end of week round-up sessions explain the next steps in support from HighGround and pass on details of other organisations who can provide in areas such as CV writing, putting military experience into civilian language and also to remind them of the importance of maintaining support networks. Once part of the HighGround family, beneficiaries have our support for as long as they need it. We love hearing good news stories and being able to share successes with the group as inspiration for their own decisions.
We gather feedback at the end of each course and the following statement sums up all we hope to achieve:
“This week has been the single most important and influential activity in preparing for planning my career choice. I leave with a tangible understanding of roles in the land-based sector, importantly the journey of presenters, our possible roadmaps and how these roles interact and network. To a person, the presenters were expert, engaging and empathetic.”
Pictures from the week can be seen here
We are indebted to funders this week – Greenwich Hospital, Army Central Fund, RAF Benevolent Fund – their generous and ongoing support makes these weeks possible.
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