Defence Gardens in England
DGS are a proud member of Building Brighter Futures, part of the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust’s (AFCFT) Thrive Together Programme to support the Armed Forces Community in the Southwest.
Delivery of the DGS Space to Grow 10-week Programme takes place at the Vounder Therapy Garden within the Eden Project Cornwall. This Programme is deigned for and delivered to Service Leavers and Veterans to support their rehabilitation journey. Here you will be given a quiet and safe space to think and learn skills such as green woodworking (making stools and spoon whitling), mindfulness, hedge laying, food preparation, marking out rows, planting seeds, potting on. No gardening experience needed!
Space to Grow is a fully adapted and physically accessible Programme and will run in Spring and Autumn 2025 and Spring 2026. The delivery team will be led by James Clarke, for further information please contact James
“My wife feels like I am more useful in the garden…I am planting more and bought some plants home to plant - I bought plants to attract insects. I never thought gardening would be the same way that it would be therapeutic but it is, outdoors you can hear the birds and animals and we live such busy lives even just 3 hours a week relaxing does a world of good.” Veteran, Eden Project, 2024
Come and join us for our Armed Forces Community workshops, Cultivate and Connect, taking place at the Vounder Therapy Garden within the Eden Project, Cornwall. Full of fun and friendly family activities such as flower pressing, seed sewing and plant identification. Refreshments provided.
Cultivate and Connect is a fully adapted and physically accessible set of workshops running throughout 2025 and 2026, please check date here for dates. The delivery team will be led by James Clarke, for further information please contact James
“The staff are brilliant, they could not do enough for you, they get to know you and speak to you individually… The therapist breaks things down into minute detail if you don't understand…he also says horticulture is not 100%, things go wrong, not everything works straight away.” Veteran, Eden Project, 2025
DGS continue to research delivery sites for the 10-week Programme and Spoke gardens as well as delivering Cultivate and Connect Workshops at a range of locations across England, once confirmed, they will be added to this page of the website so please do check back with us.