Gather and Grow
That spirit of thoughtful expansion is at the heart of our newest initiative
Gather and Grow Planting Seeds of Connection, Cultivating Community
Burrows Lea has always been more than a beautiful estate. It is a place of welcome, where people can breathe out, reconnect with nature and begin to feel themselves again. Through Gather & Grow we open the house, gardens and woodlands to those who may not otherwise have access to such spaces, including people living with anxiety, bereavement, social isolation, disability or major life change.
Our outreach work is rooted in a simple belief: this estate should serve the widest possible community. The peace and beauty of this place are not just to be admired, but to be shared. With support from Your Fund Surrey we have created a new wheelchair-accessible woodland path, opening more of the grounds to people with limited mobility. Building on this, we are now developing exciting plans for a community café, shop and kitchen garden. These will not only enhance the visitor experience, but will also allow us to partner with other charities to create sponsored placements and gentle pathways into volunteering, training and employment for people who may otherwise find such opportunities hard to access. Our Disability and Inclusion Ambassador, Nick Walski, helps ensure that everything we design is truly welcoming and accessible to all.
The Kitchen Garden: A Living Medicine
We’ll be transforming the unused flat field near the entrance into a Medicine Wheel Garden, an intentional, circular space rooted in the cycles of nature. It will be planted with a rich mix of edible crops, medicinal herbs, and flowering plants. Some for the body, some for the soul, and plenty just to delight the bees.
Visitors and volunteers will be able to learn about herbalism, horticulture, and propagation. The produce will feed the café and the house, brighten our retreat spaces with cut flowers, and any surplus will be sold to local farm shops and our own visitors, a gentle, productive rhythm of give and grow.
This garden isn’t just for show. It’s about pathways into purpose, offering training and supported volunteering in areas like horticulture, cheffing, hospitality and the spiritual healing arts.
We’re working closely with partners like Surrey Choices and the Probationary Service to create meaningful opportunities for people seeking a fresh start and perhaps a little spiritual-soil under their fingernails along the way.
The Shop: Sustainable, Seasonal, and Local
The shop will have its own character, not just an extension of the café but a purposeful space for selling ethically sourced gifts, seasonal plants, herbal products, handmade crafts, and of course, produce from the garden. We want it to be a little treasure trove, useful, thoughtful, a bit unexpected, and always rooted in wellbeing.
We hope it will also become a space for supported volunteering and light training placements, especially for those easing their way back into community life.
The Café: Simple Food, Shared Space
We’re exploring a few options for the café, possibly a modular build, possibly repurposing our neglected but charming stable block. Either way, the idea is the same, a warm, honest space with good soup, a slice of something nice, and the kind of quiet company that does more for the soul than most therapies ever could.
It won’t be flashy. It won’t be fussy. But it will be kind, and it will offer supported roles for people learning, rebuilding, and reconnecting.
Bringing People In: A Minibus for All
Of course, none of this matters if people can’t get here. So part of the Gather and Grow vision is to purchase a wheelchair-accessible minibus, making it easier for care homes, disability services, schools, and community groups to visit. Transport shouldn’t be the thing that prevents someone from experiencing spiritual healing in a beautiful place. We want to remove that barrier, simply and kindly.
Looking After the Future
Everything we’ve done in the past year, from repairs to strategy meetings to grant wrangling, has been about securing the future of the Foundation. This sacred space is not a museum, national trust property or a country club…… It’s a living sanctuary. And as trustees and guardians of Harry’s legacy, we take that seriously.
Sustainability here doesn’t mean overly corporate plans or buzzwords. It means ensuring that Burrows Lea remains open and accessible. It means generating enough income to keep offering spiritual heal and land with the same care we offer in the healing rooms. Quiet, constant, and done with love.
A Living Invitation This project isn’t a new direction. It’s an unfolding. Gather and Grow deepens our roots while extending our reach, not just offering spiritual healing to those who find us, but actively reaching out and inviting others in. To those of you who’ve supported the Foundation through your time, your donations, or even raffle prizes, thank you. Gather and Grow is yours, too. We hope you’ll visit. We hope you’ll dig. We hope you’ll stay for tea.