RAF veteran to grow allotment project to help others

Mark Eyres hopes the project will be a space for other Army veterans to be part of a team and open up about their mental health

Being able to see something grow from nothing into something you can eat "just makes you feel better," says RAF veteran Mark Eyres.

After leaving the RAF in 1997 and, he says, suffering with his mental health ever since, an allotment project has given him a chance to be part of a team again.

He is hoping to bring Boston Road Allotments in Beaumont Leys, Leicester, back to life to help other veterans with their mental health.

Mr Eyres, 52, said: "This project will hopefully bring veterans out of their comfort zone to a safe area."

Mr Eyres said veterans needed more spaces to help them in life after serving in the armed forces.

"I had 25 years of... nowhere to turn, nowhere to go," he added.

"This project will hopefully bring veterans out of their comfort zone to a safe area.

Mr Eyres has been backed by Leicester City Council's Growing Spaces to restart the project

"It's amazing to see something grow from nothing to something that you can eat... being able to do that, it just makes you feel better."

After leaving the forces, Mr Eyres was admitted to the Bradgate Mental Health Unit in Leicester which left him in a "really dark place" in need of help.

"Over the next couple of years, I built a really good team around me, and I learnt how to talk... what we'd like to do is get a fun, enjoyable project together where veterans can be part of a team and talk," he said.

Mr Eyres has been backed by Leicester City Council's Growing Spaces to restart the project.

The site has been donated by the city council to make sure there is one veterans can use.

Penny Grimley, volunteer co-ordinator at Growing Spaces, said it was important that veterans had a site where they were able to "move forward" in their lives.

She added supporting the project meant a "huge amount" to all those involved in getting it started up again.

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