Gardening Leave was a British registered horticultural therapy charity Charity Commission Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator that focused on the mental health of British Armed Forces veterans. Gardening Leave It supported veterans with a wide range of mental health conditions including depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Through horticultural therapy sessions, the charity aimed to maximise a veteran's physical, psychological and social strength, and enhance general health and well-being.
Gardening Leave was founded in March 2007 and opened its headquarters and first project at Auchincruive, Scotland. On 3 September 2007, Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry opened the Poppy Collection at the Ayr site. The organisation also ran projects at Glasgow's Erskine Hospital and London's Royal Hospital Chelsea, and an outreach project in East Acton. It announced plans to open a new project in Dundee in 2015.
The charity closed at the end of 2015 following shortfalls in income.
As of October 2014, the chairman of Gardening Leave is Luke Borwick and the chief executive officer is Heather Budge-Reid.
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