Health
Mental health: Ex-soldier builds castle to help veterans with PTSD
Mike Allen, 41, from Oakdale, Caerphilly, began building it in 2019 after his first cabin was demolished due to a lack of planning consent.
Other veterans and stone-wall specialists helped build the new castle by hand, using stone and damaged trees.
It is now home to Endex, a charitable project run by Mr Allen.
The scheme supports the rehabilitation of veterans and others suffering with their mental health. But construction of the site – in the hills above Wattsville – got off to a shaky start.
“A lovely farming family on the other side of the mountain contacted me and invited me onto their land to build something new,” said Mr Allen, who served in Afghanistan with 2nd Battalion, the Royal Welsh.
“They gave me the opportunity to live in a caravan on their land for 18 months, so for the first 18 months it was just collecting stones, gathering the logs and building.
“We got so far – about 10-15% up – and then two gentlemen came along and said they would love to take it down.
“Then they said they were from the Drystone Association of Wales and said if we took it down then in two weeks they would come back and do it properly.
“They came back with some veterans and taught us how to do it right.”
Mental health
Now the project is up and running, Mr Allen said it has already seen a wide range of visitors.
“Visits have been ongoing constantly really, particularly through lockdown, the first summer lockdown was really, really busy,” he said.
“There’s an outdoor gym there as well. We’ve run mediation classes, day yoga classes – there’s been quite a lot of different things going on.”
He added he had noticed a marked improvement in his own mental health through the building process.
“I still have good days and bad days and I try to push forward as best I can,” he said.
“Building the castle has been a good coping mechanism, I guess. It’s been a way that I can keep myself busy. Everything has been collected by hand – it hasn’t cost money really.
“It’s been really beneficial to help others.”
