New friends and a fresh start
Nigel signed up for the Royal Navy when he was just 15 and served for 12 years as a Leading Chef. “I’d always had an interest in cooking and to travel the world”. He left to be with his wife and growing family and took on the new challenge of becoming a dairy farmer in Cornwall. “It was a comp[ete change going from being in an enclosed galley to working outside, but I’d always loved being outside”.
But when his wife of 57 years passed away, Nigel suddenly found himself lost. “I felt in a rut, trapped, like my life had ended. I wondered what do I do now, how do I start again ?” With a big hole in his life, Nigel didn’t want to sit at home feeling isolated, so he contacted his GP and through the Plymouth Veterans Hub, he started to join groups and mix with people, including Veterans Outdoors. With his love and knowledge of the outdoors, he felt right at home with the other veterans on our weekly horticultural therapy project.
Nigel fondly remembers his first event with us : “The moment I walked in, it felt like I’d never been away from the Armed Forces Community. It was like I was going home. I was surprised to feel that way as I left the Royal Navy 52 years ago.” Nigel is an instrumental member of our team of beneficiaries at Pentillie walled garden, coming up with some great ideas and methods of what to grow and creating delicious salads from the Pentillie produce. He has also joined in other VO wellbeing events such as archery, kayaking and axe-throwing !