ABF The Soldiers’ Charity is pleased to award a £20,000 grant to HighGround towards its horticultural therapy programme for injured serving personnel at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC), Stanford Hall, near Loughborough.
Supporting the wellbeing of serving soldiers is an important area for the charity. HighGround’s mission is to improve the wellbeing and employment prospects of injured serving personnel using the green environment. They are grateful to the National Garden Scheme, one of their valued funders, whose generous donations have helped enable their support for HighGround.
ABF The Soldiers’ Charity has supported HighGround’s pioneering work to develop horticultural therapy as part of the clinical interventions available for rehabilitating injured patients since 2014, when it launched its pilot project at Headley Court. The magnificent new DMRC facilities at Stanford Hall were instigated by the late Duke of Westminster and funded in part by ABF The Soldiers’ Charity.
Their donation will fund the delivery of horticultural therapy to injured serving personnel through one-to-one or group sessions designed to improve fine motor skills, mobility and self-confidence, and reduce social isolation and anxiety.
Air Commodore (Ret’d) Ian Elliott, Chairman of Trustees, HighGround, said:
“I am deeply grateful to the ABF The Soldiers’ Charity for its fantastic donation. This sum will enable us to continue our much-valued horticultural therapy work at the DMRC and thus provide real positive help for our recuperating service personnel. We take immense pride in our continued relationship with ABF The Soldiers’ Charity which has supported us since our horticultural therapy journey began back at Headley Court some 9 years ago.”
Brigadier (Ret’d) Peter Monteith, Chief of Staff at ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, added:
“This year we were only too pleased to continue our support for HighGround’s innovative and inspiring therapy which has made such a positive impact. Helping injured servicemen and women to improve their health and wellbeing goes to the heart of our charity’s mission.”
Read all about horticultural therapy on HighGround’s website here: https://highground-uk.org/horticultural-therapy/
