Veteran to rebuild bushcraft site after storm

A former soldier who runs bushcraft classes for army veterans is trying to rebuild his campsite after it was damaged during Storm Darragh.

Mick Vaughn set up Staffordshire Bushcraft CIC (community interest company) in woodland near Stafford, offering survival classes for veterans on weekends.

But the site, on the grounds of Sandon Hall, was "completely flattened" during high winds from the storm in December.

"I've put everything I've got into the CIC," Mr Vaughn said, "not just financially but physically and mentally and to see it completely destroyed and on the floor like it was, was absolutely heartbreaking."

Mr Vaughn said bushcraft, which teaches practical wilderness skills such as foraging, woodcraft and firecraft, was something he had always "wanted to be a part of".

"There's nobody really in the UK giving veterans a way to come into the woods and do any kind of mental health," he said.

"So instead of becoming a bushcraft company, we decided to become a CIC and just get veterans and emergency service personnel out in the woods."

The former Staffordshire Regiment soldier founded the organisation after he was diagnosed with cancer in his left leg for a second time.

"The aim of Staffordshire Bushcraft for me is just to leave that legacy at the end," he told BBC Radio Stoke.

The damage from the storm was "devastating" but he said he "can't let people down" and they were trying to rebuild it as best they could, in time for classes in February.

"The main damage was the instructing tent and canopy... all the bars were smashed," Mr Vaughn explained.

"I've got to try and rebuild this now, for all these people that are coming over the next 12 months."

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