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
The garden gates at Burrows Lea have always been open, welcoming those in search of spiritual healing, friendship and connection. Over the years, thousands have walked our woodland paths, sat beneath our beeches, or received spiritual healing in one of our healing rooms. But as many of you will know, true healing isn’t something that stays still. It grows. It reaches. It adapts. And it invites others in.
That spirit of thoughtful expansion is at the heart of our newest initiative, Gather and Grow, a community outreach programme rooted in the values that guide the Harry Edwards Foundation, and shaped by the needs of those we serve, and hope to serve.
Gather and Grow is a five-part project designed to deepen our work in the wider community. It includes a working kitchen garden, a community café, a sustainable gift and produce shop, a wheelchair-accessible minibus, an excitingly, an accessible woodland path that will, for the very first time, allow visitors with mobility challenges to enjoy our beautiful bluebell woods.
The path has been almost entirely funded by the kind people at Your Fund Surrey, whose support has allowed us to bring this long-held dream into reality. Work begins on 7th July, and for safety reasons, access to the woodland will be closed for three to four weeks. There will be signage, photos, and updates throughought, but what comes after will be quietly transformative: a new route through nature, open to all.
Each part of the Gather and Grow project stands on its own, but together they form a gentle, inclusive ecosystem of spiritual healing, purpose, and welcome. A place where those who have often felt overlooked can rediscover connection to others, to the earth, and to themselves.
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.
Funding Proposal for Gather and Grow
The Gather and Grow initiative is not yet fully funded, though we have already invested in key site improvements and infrastructure at Burrows Lea to help lay the groundwork. We are now seeking support through external grants and partnerships to help bring the next phase to life. Like many charitable projects, we’re matching our commitment with practical investment wherever we can, but we are reliant on external funding to realise the full vision.
Because in the end, we’re not just planting vegetables or building pathways. We’re cultivating something far
more lasting: community, connection, and the kind of healing that grows quietly over time.
“The true healer is not the one who stands apart, but the one who walks with others.” Harry Edwards
To learn more or support the Gather and Grow initiative, contact: hunter@he-foundation.org
