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Healing fields help ease scars of war
Traumatised troops returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will soon be able to find peace, quiet, and a chance to learn new skills on a farm near Sheffield.
The aim is to catch them in time to prevent serious stress-related illnesses by drawing on the tranquillity of the Peak District countryside to help them come to terms with the horrors of war and the psychological scars it has inflicted on them.
"A farm can give them some breathing space, it gives them support," says the project's organiser, Elizabeth Hill. "If they're here they get 24-hour support, it means they're not alone, they're also with other people who have been through similar situations. They're out in the countryside. If they want to go out into the middle of a field and scream they can, and nobody will lock them up or think they're mad."
Until ten years ago Game Lea farm, twelve miles from Sheffield on the Duke of Devonshire's Chatsworth estate, was a dairy farm. It's run by Elizabeth and her husband Edward whose children decided they weren't interested in a life of early morning milking. So the cows departed and the Hills decided to diversify.
They set up a charity called the Game Lea Countryside Training Trust and started working with adults who have mental health problems and with teenage children facing exclusion from school.
Now the Hills, along with two other members of their family, have set up a new business on the farm, called Rural Life Skills. It will offer former troops, who have been in war zones, the chance to take much-needed time out and learn new skills.
"We'll either deal with those who aren't too bad if we catch them early, or those who have been through crisis treatment and rehabilitation and want more help to get back into civvy street," says Elizabeth.
"We're working with the land and we're working with animals. It's important just being out in the countryside and the fresh air and the space – being close to nature. That sounds a bit tree-hugging but it's not meant to be."
The Hills' plan is welcomed by the Royal British Legion which provides support for both serving and ex- members of the armed forces. Paul Mulingani, the Legion's county manager, says "It's a wonderful concept.
"If I was coming out of combat I would rather be on a farm doing what's on offer there, than being in a city. Invariably in the towns, in the city, you'll go to the pubs and become liable to whatever's going on."
The intention is to make the most of the therapeutic qualities provided by an organic farm and working with both beef cattle
and sheep.
"There'll be general farm work and we've got various workshops – a joinery shop and blacksmithing," says Elizabeth.
"We've got an agricultural engineering workshop where we restore and maintain tractors and agricultural machinery."
Many of the tasks will be pretty physical. Half of the field boundaries on the farm, which is 1,000ft up, are dry stone walls, needing regular maintenance. And because the farm is organic there is inevitably lot of basic manual work like digging and weeding.
Elizabeth says that coming out of the services after serving in a combat zone can mean a very difficult period of adjustment for former soldiers who have only known military life and discipline. She hopes that the farm will be able to offer the troops an element of "structure" and and working for a common purpose that might not be present in urban civilian life.
"What they actually miss is the comradeship, and the understanding of the other people who went through these experiences as well. They could go to the NHS and perhaps be treated and perhaps end up in a mental health ward. But in that situation they're actually being treated with other people who don't understand, and haven't been through similar experiences. What they've actually lost is the comradeship."
There are plenty of statistics and anecdotal evidence to show that soldiers' lives often do fall apart after postings to Iraq or Afghanistan. Far too many are unable to cope with normality and the legacy of their war experiences.
"Traumatic Stress Disorder just gets worse if it's not dealt with," says Elizabeth. "They can get into a downward cycle. They try and get a job, or try and hold down a job, and if they can't, that doesn't help their self-esteem. They may not be sleeping very well, so to help them sleep they take drugs or drink alcohol, which exacerbates the problem.
"So we get on this treadmill which they don't seem to be able to get off. If they've just come out of a combat situation, they've probably saved up a lot of money because they've not been where they can spend it. Then it soon goes, and they could end up homeless as well."
As well as skills training, Elizabeth's farm also plans to offer a range of specialist therapies, provided by professionals, to the war veterans.
These will range from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), to emotional freedom technique, and person-centred counselling.
To begin with, ten residential places will be available. Elizabeth hopes that will rise to 30 places when they start to use her brother Peter's commercial nursery which is nearby.
It's likely that the veterans will spend a month on the farm, but Elizabeth is hoping that funding can be found to allow some to stay for longer.
One of the things which she believes a farm can offer is the peace and solitude to allow the former troops to snap out of their combat mentality, and in particular a common problem known as "hypervigilance".
"That's where they're in this state of permanent awareness and alertness. And troops returning from combat can also have huge problems with noise, for example on Bonfire Night and hearing fireworks.
"Being out in the countryside and in the peace and quiet they are able perhaps to relax and let their guard down. They won't need to be in this hypervigilant state because there won't be traffic, and people, and other things going on." Elizabeth Hill hopes the first veterans will arrive at her farm in the next few weeks.
Any veterans interested in contacting Elizabeth Hill can do so on 01246 568 206.
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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