My mental health had a little blip back in the Summer of 2019.  I had long-term depression up to this point that I had managed to contain. I tended to isolate myself away from people, feeling safest when it was just me and Dave.  I could go up to a week without making a real connection with another human during the school holidays. But the meadows in a way forced me to connect with other people, as whenever you walk there you bump into other dog walkers, and they are a chatty lot. So despite my chosen isolation, I was not isolated, if even for 2 minutes I would be a part of a real human connection with another on the Meadows. 

Then the summer 2019 "blip" came around.  During this time the Hollingbourne Meadows became a part of the tonic that would help heal my mind.  I would visit the meadows daily to walk Dave & meet a friend. Here I would be mindful of the nature around me. Understanding and witnessing the changes of nature, how it grows, flourishes, flowers, seeds, dies and starts again. Witnessing this cycle first hand helped me to connect with nature. These connections with nature gave me energy and focus.  Now with my mental health being strong and resilient I still need these connections with nature. This is why I have become such a bore with my "interesting facts" about wild flora and fauna. I continue to need to learn, understand and connect.  My faith is in nature, Mother Earth. She is constant and she is reliable. 

During Covid the meadows became essential for me to visit every day.  It is here I knew I would bump into other  people dog walking.  It is here I would get my much needed (socially distanced) human contact. 

Hand on heart I am not sure I would have managed to restore and maintain myself without the meadows.  That is why I would like to raise some money to support the maintenance of a place that has become so important for me, some where that helped me to recover and continues to be a place that keeps my well-being topped up.  It is where I go for my pilgrimages.  

Blurb from the Meadows:
Promoting mental wellbeing, overcoming lockdown isolation and loneliness by getting out and enjoying the Green Lungs of the community, working together cohesively and compassionately to raise much-needed funds for our local environmental charity.2020 has been a strange year for all of us. Who could have imagined that phrases like lockdown, social distancing and remember your face mask would enter our day to day vocabulary. Many of us have been left feeling isolated and alone, and we know it has been a trying time for many of us. With the colder months on their way, for many, it may get worse before it gets better. Please sponsor me to raise funds to support Hollingbourne Meadows Trust.