Meeting With Partners.

“JASON REVEALS ALL ABOUT HIS VETERANS’ GROWTH CHARITY”

The guest speaker, Jason Stevens, gave an inspirational talk about his life and setting up a charity to benefit others at this club meeting.

Jason explained that he was a career soldier with 15 years’ service already completed when he collapsed with a stroke on a parade ground in Edinburgh.  He was, after months of treatment, discharged from the army and, because he was suffering with numerous mental and physical disabilities, discovered that gardening helped with his wellbeing.  

Jason was so enthused with gardening that he set up a plant shop in Hastings.  Then realising that suicide was rife amongst ex-service personnel due to a multitude of reasons, including Post Traumatic Stress Order (PTSD), he sold his shop and in 2018 put all his efforts into founding Veterans’ Growth, a charity which helps people recover through horticulture.  

A year after in 2019 they took over a run down 76 acre site in Westfield and now have 12 veterans at a time teaching horticulture, woodland management, woodwork, and management skills.  Despite the pandemic, they carried on and provided £15,000 in food grants to needy veterans as well as fruit and vegetables they had grown, especially for stressed out personnel after Afghanistan was evacuated and when Ukraine was invaded.

Jason gave case histories of two men helped by this project who, as a result of the help and support they received, were able to lead more normal lives.  He also said that between 6 and 7 tons of produce was harvested and distributed to veterans, and plants produced are sent to a host of different charities with some even being used at the Chelsea Flower Show.

After 5 successful years at the helm, Jason will be stepping down as the CEO but will still continue to attend and assist regularly.  The post of CEO will go to Sarah who has been involved with the project since its inception.

 Bexhill Rotarian Mike Clark thanked Jason on behalf of the audience for his enlightening and informative talk about his story the setting up of a very worthy charity.