Veterans’ allotment offers mental health support

An army veteran has opened an allotment to provide mental health support for other veterans and grow food for his local foodbank.

Founder Josh Clarke spent 14 months preparing the Wakefield District Veterans’ Allotment, which opened on Saturday.

Mr Clarke served in the Royal Yorkshire Regiment for six years before being medically discharged. On leaving the army he struggled with this mental health.

“Three years ago I planned to take my own life because I got to the point where life just got on top of me and I couldn’t get myself out of the situation I was in,” he said.

“My head was putting me into darker and darker places and if it wasn’t for my wife I wouldn’t be here today.”

Mr Clarke said the allotment became a place he could relax and he wanted to share that with his fellow veterans.

He added: “For me, it’s a place where I go into my own little world and I feel that a lot of the stresses of life go away."

The allotment will host gardening clubs, a breakfast club and a men's mental health talking group.

“Whenever you speak to someone who has served, they don’t say they miss the army, they miss the lads and lasses – the people there, because you know that they’ve got your back," said Mr Clarke.

“The person to the left and right of you they will always have your back and that’s what I want to create at this allotment."

Food grown at the allotment is donated to the Knottingley Foodbank. So far, it has donated 61.4kg of fruit and vegetables.

Fellow veteran Pete Girt, who runs Knottingley Foodbank, said it was important to be able to talk to other veterans.

“Unless you’ve served yourself, you don’t really understand,” he said.

“Mental health among veterans is quite low, so anything like this that can help boost mental health among veterans has got to be a good thing.”

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.