Over the past couple of months we’ve unfortunately had a few funding applications turned down, which threatens the future of the clinic. We’ve decided to take matters into our own hands, and are working hard to raise the funds ourselves to make enough money to keep on going. To help, we issued a call for solidarity from anyone able to support the clinic financially to ‘Pay It Forward’. We are asking for a donation of £35 from those who are able to, which will buy someone who can’t afford it a herbal appointment and one months worth of medicine. So far the response has been fantastic and we’ve had more than £400 worth of donations! This is wonderful, and we are still in need of more support so please do give if you can.
One local resident & clinic supporter had this to say about the project:
I would like to take the time to explain how much Grass Roots Remedies herbal clinic in Wester Hailes has helped me. I started attending the clinic about 2 years ago, and despite being dubious at first, I felt that I was at the end of the line as nothing else was working. Everyday, I was waking up feeling ill, taking tramadol, ibuprofen, and fluoxetine, which all caused me to have stomach and bowel problems. Suicidal thoughts where also becoming more and more prominent.
Two years on, I am in the process of completely turning my life around, and this has really been down to having regular sessions with Ally the herbalist from Grass Roots Remedies. I now only take a low dose anti-depressant from the doctors, herbs provided from the clinic, and a few herbal teas that I have learned to grow and forage through the courses and Communitea sessions they run. My stomach and bowels are much better, and I am up in the morning singing and opening the curtains wide as soon as I get up. My diet has improved too, as I have learnt a lot about my body and how it reacts to the various foods I eat and the rigours of life.
The Communitea and the Wild Things course has also been superb in helping me along on this journey. Soraya, Rhona, and Ally are really great teachers and have helped me learn to try new things and also grow more fruit and veg in the small communal garden I have available.
Shortly after starting with Grass Roots clinic, I went looking for a relative who was homeless and on drugs. The advice and support I received really helped, not only from the herbs that they provided, but advice on diet and what vitamins and minerals would be needed to fight opiate withdrawals too. My relative managed to wean off without using a prescribed substitute, and the continued support of Grass Roots has really helped keep them on track.
First and foremost, a huge thanks to all involved with making Grass Roots Remedies Co-op happen. Secondly, if this letter of thanks ever gets seen by potential funders, please do make a consideration that there is an amazing thing happening in this deprived housing estate on the West of Edinburgh. Please try and keep this funded if you can, it is already saving the NHS a lot, and possibly saved not just 1 but 2 lives that I know of.
To find out more about Grass Roots Remedies and how to support their project, please visit their website here.
