AN EAST Lothian business that aims to heal ailments using herbalism and nature immersion is providing support to a range of people.

Musselburgh resident Karen Jane Brown set up Herb & Soul in February, 2024, with specialist support from Business Gateway, in order to share the benefits of nature with her local community and beyond.

She is now providing support to young people suffering with anxiety and depression, service users of Women's Aid and deprived communities through local charities and support groups.

Karen’s business is focussed on herbalism, also known as herbal medicine, which uses medicinal plants as an alternative to other forms of medicine. She encourages people to incorporate edible healing plants and flowers into their diets in order to benefit from medicinal properties.

She also shows the "benefits of nature immersion" which is the practice of "fully engaging with and experiencing the natural environment to enhance well-being, mindfulness, and connection with nature."

Karen believes in the "power" of plants and being surrounded by nature, and often forages for her own supplies. When living in India, she saw the way they used plants for medicinal purposes and decided to do a qualification in nutritional medicine when she returned to Scotland. She is qualified as a community herbalist and is studying to become a medical herbalist - the difference being "a deeper medical knowledge and more practicing allowances in medical herbalism."

Karen Jane Brown is the founder of Herb & Soul

When she started her business running educational foraging and healing herb walks, Karen was approached by five separate charities who wanted to get involved and who all had eager interest in providing 'green therapy' to their people and in their community hubs. She now works regularly with three of them as well as running her own public Herb & Soul herbalism educational events to provide knowledge, education and workshop sessions to people in need of this type of healing.

Having a charitable aspect to her business was "essential" to Karen.

Her workshops and walks are often "socially prescribed" to people who would benefit from spending more time outdoors and need the stimulation of being in nature.

Karen attended Business Gateway events and webinars, including events in its Planning to Start series, start-up workshops and social media workshops.

She met her Business Gateway adviser Irene Ramsay to discuss issues such as legal status, tax, marketing, insurance, community involvement and becoming a charitable offering.

Irene signposted Karen to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Start-up grant, which enabled her to undertake a first aid course and purchase insurance that was expensive because of the nature of the business. She was also given support promoting the business through leaflets and online marketing methods such as improving her social media use.

Karen said: "My natural healing business is really flourishing and this is largely due to the support I've received from Business Gateway. Without Irene's backing of my ideas and positivity as well as certainty that my business would be received well by many, I don't think I'd have had the courage to start up a new business.

"To be able to help guide people from all walks of life towards ways they can improve their lives in both physical and emotional ways is huge for me and a big part of the reason I set up Herb & Soul. My intention with the work I do is to connect people back to nature and it's truly rewarding to see this happen."

Irene added: "Watching the growth of Herb & Soul has been fantastic, and it has also allowed Karen’s confidence in her business grow. It’s fantastic to see her be able to give back to the local community and give them an alternative way of dealing with illness and ailments."

To find out more about Business Gateway visit bgateway.com