Meet our horticultural HEROES

Discover the stories of the extraordinary garden champions who are making a difference to places, people, plants and the planet

- MOLLY BLAIR, STEPHANIE MAHON, VERONICA PEERLESS

Sarah Wilson

Best known as the creator and host of the Roots and All gardening podcast, Sarah Wilson is also CEO of Veterans' Growth. The charity works with military veterans who are suffering with mental health issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, aiming to reduce anxiety, depression and isolation by creating longterm social relationships and introducing people to new skills via horticulture.

It was established in 2019 by Sarah's partner at the time, Jason Stevens - an army veteran who, after experiencing a stroke at the age of 35, found no support available. He realised gardening was the only thing that had any positive impact on his mental wellbeing, and founded the charity. It now operates with a team of seven and up to 15 volunteers, at an eight-acre site near Hastings in East Sussex, for which they pay peppercorn rent thanks to a kindly benefactor.

The team has created ornamental and veg-growing areas, as well as fruit cages, meadows, a pond, orchard and mixed woodland. "We try to incorporate a bit of everything, so that people get a taste of different sorts of gardening," says Sarah. They run horticultural therapy sessions, predominantly with military veterans but also members of the general public who are dealing with mental health challenges, tailoring the programme of work to each individual. This relaxed approach also extends to how people find their way to the charity-some through official referrals, and others through self-referring. "We've got very low barriers to entry," explains Sarah, "as we want to make it really easy for people to come along." veteransgrowth.org

Henry Agg