In 2021 Sarah Dunning and me met with Mary Smith the CEO of Growing Well and their then Chair Prof Joy Duxbury to explore the potential of a 2nd site for them at Tebay Nth. This proudly opened in January 2023 with investment and support from the business, and has been an inspiration every since. The team at growing well are constantly looking to support the wider community which sadly has a strong and clear demand for mental health support.

Last year we supported the extension of the initial 1.4 acre site to create Treebay are new endeavour growing saplings for rewilding. Paul Cambre and the wider team at Growing Well are just amazing people to know.

Growing well led a fundraising walk 2 years ago which led to me walking 21 miles and many friends (you) supported me. This led me to have the idea of could we as a business do the same? The team at Westmorland led by Claire Logan-Stephens have taken that idea and made it a reality. It takes a lot more planning than I originally thought. On a personal note these actions hopefully show what I think of this charity and I am delighted we have over 150 friends and businesses joining us including some of my favourite people. I am 6 stone lighter now than my last walk so hopefully I will enjoy it more. ( Yes I have openly been on a Jab).

If you see this on LinkedIn and wonder if that is the correct forum then I would strongly say yes, business and community are linked. Its what makes my role at Westmorland Family so rewarding and its something this Family Business has in its DNA led by the Dunning Family's approach to business.

Here is our official link below, even the smallest amount of support is greatly appreciated.

On Thursday 14 May 2026, during Mental Health Awareness Week, Westmorland Family are organising a 21 mile ‘Miles for Minds’ sponsored walk from Tebay Services to Rheged. This inaugural walk on waymarked footpaths is for Westmorland colleagues, suppliers, friends and Growing Well supporters. Our aim is to raise £20,000 to support the core costs of Growing Well (Tebay) which provides a 12 month programme of mental health support to over 100 people each year, with an amazing 68% success rate to full recovery.

For more info on Growing Well visit: https://www.growingwell.co.uk/growing-well-tebay/

For more info visit: https://rheged.com/westmorland-miles-for-minds/