Jamie's Farm News

Showing posts for 2010 - Show all posts

  • 04

    NOV
    2010

    Posted at 13:04

    November Newsletter

    Dear Friends,

    Autumn has been extremely busy at Jamie’s Farm with the farm hosting a varied mix of groups, really demonstrating the breadth and depth of the work that is taking place. For photograps of all the action at the farm click here.
     

    - One of our frequent visitors, Kids Company, sent two groups of children at the end of the summer from the Treehouse, Camden consisting of children aged between 8 and 12 who are referred by their schools to attend their afterschool club. These holiday visits provided a supportive and meaningful experience to these children, complementing the existing work of KidsCo: one child commented “I learnt that I can be and do anything I want to do in life and I have to believe that I can do anything.” We look forward to forthcoming visits from Kids Co, from both their club groups at Treehouse and their pupil referral unit. 

    - Five 14 – 16 year olds visited from Westside school, Westminster, who work with children who have been excluded from, or are at risk of exclusion from mainstream education. Many thanks for Sarah Evans for working tirelessly to raise the funds for the visit and for accompanying the group.

    - Bath City College’s Step up re-engagement programme for 16 – 18 year olds spent a day at Jamie’s Farm to help develop self esteem and build positive relationships within the group. This has been a great way for us to work with children on our doorstep and we look forward to future visits from the College. 

    - The RSA Academy Tipton sent their first group of children – a mixed group from year 7 – 10. The week was busy with lots of hands on farming,  as well as harvesting our vast supply of apples. On the last day of the visit, the school brought down the parents of the children who had spent the week with us, who were welcomed onto the farm and we were able to celebrate their children’s individual achievements. This is a model that we hope to develop further with RSA and other schools, allowing us to work collaboratively with teachers and parents to best support the children upon their return to home and school. One teacher who accompanied the group commented about one student:  "Ben often finds himself in trouble at school, he would not normally be given the opportunity to participate in school trips due to this and almost lost his place on the trip due to his poor behvaiour in the few weeks before. However he has proved everyone wrong by showing that he can act responsibly, have respect for his peers and adults, be good company, work hard and be compassionate. I think that the reason Ben has behaved so well is due to the positive attention and compliments which he would not normally get from staff at school, however Jamie's Farm has shown that if given some responsibility and trust he can act very maturly."

    - Jamie’s Farm began a partnership with The Young Parents Project, Brighton, who support and train young mothers using food and nutrition. This group of mothers, aged between 21 and 25, visited the farm as part of a 12 week employment readiness course with the aim of increasing self confidence,developing leadership skills to allow them to become trainers for the organisation. Not only were our 6 mums mucking out pigs, collecting eggs and weeding in the garden – they were also looking after their children who they brought with them to the farm – 9 children aged between one month and 6! With the help of our mobile crèche we were able to provide a week of hard work, reflection and focused group sessions: upon leaving one of the mums wrote, "It was a great learning curve for me as an individual and a mother. The whole concept of Jamie's Farm is a beautiful part of life that should be incorporated into everyone's."

    Next month's newsletter will feature our latest impact data and  longitudinal studies of the early visitors to Jamie's Farm.

    Book a visit
    We are currently taking bookings for Spring and Summer 2011, if you are interested in bringing a group to Jamie's Farm please email Lucy (lucy@jamiesfarm.org.uk) and click here for our School Information Pack.

    Bexley Academy and the BBC, November 22nd BBC1
    Bexley Business Academy's visit to Jamie's Farm earlier in the year has been documented by the BBC. BBC Inside Out West are in the final stages of editing a 10 minute report which will be broadcast in SW and London on 22nd November.
     
    Hill House Farm
    The site at Hill House Farm continues to blossom with time as we have now been here for six months. The completion of the renovation of our cow byres means that our core staff team is now living onsite, and the work has now begun to convert our threshing barn into art rooms, an office and a beautiful space for teacher training, parent visits and performances. To date the Department for Health (through the Social Investment Business) has already provided a grant which will cover 50% of the costs. We are currently seeking funds to complete this important phase of the build, in order that we have adequate space to work with different kinds of groups. For more information, please contact Ruth Carney (ruth@jamiesfarm.org.uk). 

    Farm News
    After the sad death of our trusted horse Robbie in the summer, we have invested in River, a 15.1hh Thoroughbred cross Welsh. Working with the horses on the ground and riding, Tish explores issues around confidence, security, the search appropriate use of power and control, trust, compassion and nurture. Our experience shows children learn in an unthreatening way to confront the impact of their behaviour and find new ways that can translate from experience with the horses to peers and the group. In order to develop this work further we have gratefully received a grant from the Ryvoan Trust to enable us to build an all weather arena and stables onsite. Many thanks!

    Our poultry section has expanded with fine new additions of Rhode Island Red, blue maran, Plymouth rock and speckled Sussex  - for whom we are currently building a new complex of chicken coops with the visiting children. Our cattle are currently recovering after a slightly raucous TB test, involving young heifers who managed to escape as the vet was administering the test. Local farmer, Chris Quicke heroically stepped in to save the day from one steer who was particularly determined to make a bid for freedom!  We are also pleased to welcome our border terrier/jack russell pup, Piglet, who the team surprised Jamie with on his birthday!
     
    Fundraising
    Jamie’s Farm Christmas Bash – 4thDecember, University of London Rowing Club, Chiswick
    Dust off your tinsel and bailer twine and join us for a “farmyard chic” black tie event. For more information and to order tickets visit our microsite by clicking here.
    If you've been to a Jamie's Farm event before you will know that it's going to be an amazing party with lots of Christmas cheer and maybe a few surprises! So bring yourselves and some friends and help us celebrate!

    Bath Half Marathon, March 13th2011
    After raising over £10,000 with 36 runners in the Bath Half Marathon last year, Jamie’s Farm have set an ambitious target to have a team of 100 running next year. If you are up for the physical challenge, as well as raising much needed funds for Jamie’s Farm. We will support with training advice, a pre race pasta party at Hill House Farm and much sought after Jamie’s Farm T shirts. With general public entry already full, our Golden Bond entries and corporate teams are your only chance to compete. For more information email Jane (jane@jamiesfarm.org.uk). Spaces will be running out soon so make sure you don’t miss out!
     
    Music at Jamie’s Farm
    With Lucy Moorehead joining the team, we are hoping to start to incorporate music into visits and support the work we do.  This is a plea for any instruments you might have lying around unused and unloved. Any donations would be hugely appreciated. Our big goal is to try and have a piano at the farm for the children to play on. If you would be able to help with this please get in touch with Lucy on 07971 316 554 or at lucy@jamiesfarm.org.uk. Many thanks in advance.
     
    Thanks
    Many thanks to the Ray Harris Charitable Trust, the Bowland Charitable Trust for their donations over the summer, and to the Tudor Trust for their support towards staff salaries at Jamie’s Farm. A special thanks also to King Edwards School who raised £1232.08 to buy our Jersey calves. Thanks also to the Westonbirt School for their collection which raised £150 and for their continued support, and to the Bath Philharmonic Orchestra whose collection raised a total of £449.50. We are enormously grateful for the support of the many individuals who devote time and money to the work of Jamie's Farm.  

    Staff
    At Jamie’s Farm we are excited that the team is growing as the number of children we work with increases. We would like to warmly welcome three new staff members to the team:
     

    - Lucy Moorehead has joined Jamie’s Farm after 4 years teaching music in St Marylebone Secondary School in Central London. Lucy also trained with the Teach First programme and has taught music in prison and pupil referral units. She joins us in the full time role of Visit Co-ordinator so if you are interested in booking a visit please email lucy@jamiesfarm.org.uk

    - Jonny Sobczyk joins us from the Teach First programme, having taught in Bow School for Maths and Computing. He is a familiar face at Jamie’s Farm, having brought several visits of children from his school in East London. He will be working with us two weeks a month and in particular will be working on our website and more fully documenting visits to Jamie's Farm.

    - Doug Burcombe, husband of our housekeeper Kay, will be joining us to support us on the farm – with key areas of expertise including building, mechanics and work with livestock.

     
     
     All the best,

    The Jamie's Farm team 

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  • 23

    AUG
    2010

    Posted at 11:34

    New video - Bexley Academy at Jamie's Farm

    To see highlights of Bexley Academy's recent visit to Jamie's Farm on youtube, click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sONkvfmJ-iA 

     

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  • 28

    JUL
    2010

    Posted at 16:48

    July Newsletter

    Dear supporters,

    We have had 63 children visit the farm since our last newsletter, from Robert Clack High School (Daggenham), Sils 3 (Peckham), Abbey Hill School (Stoke on Trent), Bexley Academy (Thamesmead) and Islington Arts and Media School (Islington).  

    For photographs of these visits click here
     
    Feedback
    We asked children what they had learnt during a visit to Jamie’s Farm:
    - "I think I can't do things but I can."
    - "I can work better in a group, and if I put myself to doing something and focus on it, I can do it."
    - "I get on well with other people that I don't know that well. I want to take school more seriously and be more confident."
    - "Other people all have ambitions that are really good, I wouldn't normally expect that from other people."
    - "Other people were showing their confidence, and at first I was shy and wouldn't tell no one nothing, and I've sort of come out of my egg shell."
    - "I can be a better person that I am now"
     
    In the words of their teachers, these children have made huge progress when visiting Jamie’s Farm:

    Richard "Prior to visiting, Richard was aggressive, often truanting lessons and arguing with senior staff. The visit has enabled him to show a completely positive side, actively helping wherever possible, praising staff and students, giving help and advice, showing thanks where appropriate. Truly amazing."

    Gemma  "She is smiling! Gemma is renowned around school for being rather surly and tends to have a lot of attitude towards staff. It has been really rewarding to see her relax and laugh and enjoy herself. She has also talked in depth about her feelings and dreams which is something that I don't think she has had many opportunities to do before."

    Steve "At school he is a child with difficulty building relationships with adults and with peers, lacking in confidence and will not communicate easily. The change in just one week...actually after one hour of being at Jamie's Farm was INCREDIBLE!! It was the combination of calm supportive adults who trusted him from the start, the beautiful surroundings and access to so many practical hands on tasks. To see someone like Steve with real drive, passion and an idea of what he would now like to do in his life is a great and powerful thing."
     
    We look forward to reporting on the long term impact that the Jamie's Farm experience has had on these early visitors to our new site in the coming months.

    Farm news
    We are now pleased to announce that with the help of many children, staff and volunteers the Jamie’s Farm vegetable patch is now up and running. We have build 10 raised beds which will allow us to grow more of own produce and provide many opportunities for visiting children to participate in the growing process. Our next project is going to be a poly tunnel which we hope to have completed by the end of the summer.

    Spring and summer have proved to be sunny and dry on Jamie’s Farm, and whilst this has been much appreciated by the students and staff who have visited, the grass has been suffering and we are relieved that the rain is finally falling. Students of Abbey Hill School ably assisted in hay making at Jamie’s Farm. Moving bales of hay is hot, dusty and heavy work but our visiting students, and our team of local volunteers, managed to successfully shift 1350 bales in one day. A great achievement which will see our livestock through the winter months.

    We have recently bought two beautiful jersey calves which we are hand rearing so that when they are fully grown these heifers will provide milk and dairy products for the visiting children.  We have also added 6 North Country Cheviot ewes to our flock who we will be breeding from next year. Our latest additions to the Jamie’s Farm team are two kittens, Dizzy and Rascal, who are supposed to be farm cats but seem to spend more time cuddling up on people’s laps than chasing mice.
     
    Fundraising and events
    Bath Philharmonia’s Concert, Thursday 12thAugust at 7.30pm, Bath Abbey – Conducted by Jason Thonrton with soloist Patricia Rosario, Bath Philarmonia’s concert will feature Debussy’s Claire du Lune, Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne, De Falla’s Ritual Fire Dance and Coplan’s Appalachian Spring. On top of this terrific programme a collection will be held to raise funds for Jamie’s Farm.  Tickets can be obtained through the Bath Festival Box Office or through Bath Philhamonia's office 01225-444153 with prices starting at £15 (£5 concessions).

    Thanks -Jamie’s Farm would like to thank the Bowland Charitable Trust and the Ray Harris Charitable trust for their recent financial support. Further thanks go to Tim Bowles and his team for raising £600 through his festival, Winstock in June and to Andrew Jutsam and Cat Ambrose at Mott MacDonald for making us their Charity of the Month in May. The ongoing help from all our supporters is much appreciated by us all.

    We would also like to say good bye to Jack Leech, who has been part of the team here at Jamie's Farm for the last six months. We are already missing his presence on the farm and have named one of our calves after him as a lasting legacy. Good luck!

    Bring a group
    If you’re interested in bringing a group to Jamie’s Farm please contact our visit manager, Jane Brinson (jane@jamiesfarm.org.uk). We have just had a cancellation for September so if you would like the opportunity to bring children as a fantastic way of kick starting the yea,r now is your chance to get booked in.

    If you are interested in learning more about Jamie’s Farm and would like to attend our next Open Day, please email Jane (jane@jamiesfarm.org.uk) who will be contacting all those who have expressed an interest with dates soon.

    All the best, 

    Everyone at Jamie's Farm
     
     

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  • 05

    JUL
    2010

    Posted at 00:00

    Jamie's Farm is on the move!

    To view photographs of Jamie’s Farm this month, click here

    It has been an extremely busy time for us at Jamie’s Farm: in the last month, not only have we moved into our new home, Hill House Farm, but we have also hosted four visits from schools from London and Manchester.  It is a testament to the hard work and commitment of our staff, volunteers, friends, builders and decorators that Hill House is already feeling like an incredible place: the historic buildings, the decoration and the furniture together create a warm family home, complete with open fires and a dog under the table.  It is quite amazing to take in the view from our kitchen which encompasses the tulips blooming in the garden, piglets sunbathing in pigsties, and horses and cows grazing in the fields overlooking the village of Box. The facilities, both in terms of accommodation and agriculturally, make a huge difference to the work we are able to do with the children who visit, providing the tools and the landscape in which the therapeutic aspect of our work can take place. We are thrilled that this move will allow us to provide the Jamie’s Farm experience to even more students in the next academic year.

    If you need to contact us, remember that our address has now changed. Find us at Hill House Farm, Box, Wiltshire, SN13 8QA.

     

    Visits

    Bow Boys – Our second visit from this school involved nine year 10 boys who were accompanied by a year 11 mentor. He visited Jamie’s Farm last year and his teachers were so impressed by his efforts to implement positive changes on his return to school that, a year later, he was asked to mentor his younger peers through the experience. All ten children worked extremely hard throughout their week and we were impressed by their energy and enthusiasm as well as their surprising ability with a sewing machine when helping to prepare soft furnishings for the new farm. The mentoring programme was hugely successful with all children involved benefiting hugely, including the mentor himself who we look forward to working with in the future. We wish him continuing success in the construction course he is undertaking which will enable him to use some of the skills learnt here on the farm.

    Manchester Creative and Media Academies - North Manchester High School for Girls, who first visited us in the summer of 2008, recently joined with North Manchester High Schools for Boys to become the Manchester Creative and Media Academies. So this spring visit was the first time year 10 students from both the schools were brought together to visit Jamie's Farm.     This combination was a new model for us which worked well, as students rose to the challenge of representing their respective schools, whilst developing new relationships which allowed them to explore aspects of themselves and each other. The children took particular delight in bottle feeding our two pet lambs they named Shelby and Lennie.

    Lea Valley - It was with delight that we welcomed Lea Valley High school students to Hill House Farm last week: the first guests at our new home. The sun shone for the duration of the week and the group of year 7 and 8 students were bowled over by the house and its surroundings. With our livestock on our doorstep, the children were able to get their hands dirty in a wide range of farming activities and in the duration of the week made huge progress. In particular, students developed listening skills, empathy and how to deal with difficult situations calmly.  The fact that the outcomes of the visit were the same, if not better, than with groups at our previous site, makes our future at Hill House even more exciting.


    Farm news

    The fields around Hill House are full of new life – with lambs, calves and piglets aplenty. An exciting addition to the Jamie’s Farm team is our new Aberdeen Angus bull, Treguddick Red Evaluator. Jamie is extremely proud of his new purchase especially as he made it into the pages of both the Farmers Weekly and the Farmer’s Guardian when he won best in show at the Bristol Sales Centre! We look forward to seeing the herd develop with his genes next year.  Furthermore, we have recently acquired 10 Limousin and Aberdeen Angus store cattle to graze the grass throughout the summer.

    The farmyard is also developing, with the help of Doug Burcombe and Matt Carnie: the 18th century pigsties have been resurrected with new drinkers and plans are in place to create more winter housing for the pigs and cows in the modern farm buildings.

    We have very excitingly received a donation from Andrew and Annette Mercer and Footdown; a land rover defender complete with roofrack and new sound system. This extra vehicle makes a huge difference to our ability to work with children, meaning we can transport them easily to different sites to give them direct access to a wide variety of farming activities. It is also extremely well branded with our logo so is a great promotional tool (as you can see in the photo above). A massive thank you from us all!

     

    Media

    Jamie’s Farm has been very well represented in the press this month, with three articles featuring our work:

    The online magazine The Ecologist writes “How a stay on a farm opens the minds of disruptive kids". For the full article, click here

    Growing Business, the online magazine which aims to "energise entrepreneurs" writes about the support UnLtd (a charity that supports social entrepreneurs) has offered to Jamie's Farm in the article "Finding the UK's hidden social entrepreneurs". To read it in full click here

    Jamie’s Farm staff, Tish Feilden and Ruth Carney, have published an article in the journal Every Child exploring the methodology of our work at Jamie’s Farm. The journal is distributed to professionals in the education, health and social care sector and the article is available to read in full here

      

    Fundraising

    Jamie’s Farm want to say a huge thank you to the committee who organised the Spring Fling on the 19th March. The event was a great success; a delicious hog roast and dancing at the Serpentine Bar and Restaurant in Hyde Park, raising almost £6,000. Particular thanks to Benugo who generously supplied the venue for the event, and to all their staff for working so hard to ensure it went so smoothly.

    To bring a group.

    If you are interested in organising a visit to Jamie’s Farm we are now taking bookings from October 2010. Please email Jane Brinson, Visit Manager, to discuss availability and pricing or visit our website jamiesfarm.org.uk for more information.

    All the best,

    Jamie's Farm

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  • 11

    MAR
    2010

    Posted at 11:33

    February Newsletter

    Celebrations at Jamie's Farm
    It is with great delight that we can now confirm that Jamie’s Farm is the proud new owner of Hill House Farm. After 6 months of long negotiation we have completed the deal, have the keys and the builders are hard at work. The house is a beautiful Cotswold farmhouse, some parts dating from the 14th century, with extensive farm buildings; from 200 year old pig sties to modern calving sheds, this combination suits the needs of the charity perfectly. Having this permanent home for Jamie’s Farm will allow us to work with more young people, 350 over the next year, in appropriate, safe and beautiful facilities. It gives us a sustainable future with which to support young people to make positive changes in their lives at home and at school. A huge thank you to all those that have invested time and money into this venture, including our trustees, in particular David Townsend for his daily advice and Peter Clegg for his vision and support. Also, many thanks to the vendors, the Goulstone family, for their patience and understanding throughout the whole process. We first saw the house back in June and it semed like a dream that has now become a reality!  

    To see a personal message from me, click here. 

    We now have four weeks to complete the building work to ensure the house meets all fire regulations and is made into a beautiful home to welcome our first visitors on the 28th March. It is quite a task – but we’re lucky to have the support of Wraxall builders and Hetreed Ross architects, as well as a whole host of friends and neighbours who are providing everything from their time, energy and support to help us to achieve our ambitious target.  We have been astounded by the generosity of so many local businesses who are helping us to furnish the house, with donations from Total Bathrooms, Rossiters, the Granary Trading Company, Shannon, Looking Glass, Global Furniture Alliance and Capital Carpets as well as personal donations from Nicole and Derek Robinson, Gwyneth and Rod Brinson, Robbie and Peter Dixon, Steve and Debbie Carnie and Brian and Margaret Roper. However we are still short of some key items.If you are in a position to help, whether you are de-cluttering your own house (particularly if it is local to us in Bath) or want to organise a fund raiser to purchase a specific item email Ceri (ceri@jamiesfarm.org.uk).
     
    If you are keen to lend a hand, and are nifty with a paint brush, we would be grateful for support in the last two weeks of March: from digging in the garden, to putting up shelves, moving furniture to moving cows. If you’re available and keen to lend a hand email Ceri (ceri@jamiesfarm.org.uk). 

    To see all the latest pictures of the work in progress and the Bath Half Marathon click here

     
    Visits
    Our most recent visit was from a group of 7 young people from Stockport, organised by the Adsworth Youth Centre. Their weekend visit was made particularly memorable as we are in the midst of lambing and within half an hour of their arrival they were helping to deliver twins. Despite the cold and wet weather they all got to experience a range of challenging tasks, and spent time reflecting on their personal ambitions and the qualities they wanted to develop within themselves. They also went back to Stockport with jars of apple chutney, eggs collected that morning from the hen houses and with pottery tiles to follow when they have been fired in our kiln.

    Our next visit will be at the end of March which we hope will be our first visit from Hill House Farm. This begins a busy spring and summer for Jamie’s Farm. We currently have spaces available from the end of June so if you are interested in bringing a group before the summer holidays or in the next academic year, email Jane (jane@jamiesfarm.org.uk) for more information.

    Fundraising
    Spring Fling – an evening of food, drink, music and dancing,  March 19th, The Serpentine Bar and Kitchen
    As the spring sun sets over The Serpentine, our ‘rustic ballroom’ event will get underway with a live swing band, delicious produce from Jamie’s Farm (including a hog roast and vegetarian foods), cocktails, farm games and a fantastic raffle. It will be a beautiful evening and every penny raised will go straight to Jamie’s Farm, enabling more young people to visit and change the direction in their lives.  For more information and to buy tickets visit jamiesfarm.org.uk/springfling

     
    Half Marathon
    Sunday 7th March 45 runners ran the 13.1 mile course of the Bath Half Marathon to raise money for Jamie’s Farm (including the staff!). It was a beautiful crisp day, and the team did us proud. Our fastest runner was Jonathan Stead who achieved a personal best at 1 hour and 14 minutes and our champion fundraiser is Chris Shaw who has astounded us with his fundraising efforts. Our congratualtions and thanks go to all our runners - it was a fantastic day! To sponsor any of our runners click here

    Valentine's Ball
    Many thanks to Jo Llewellyn and her team who organised a fantastic event at the Thames Rowing Club on February 13th. The farmyard costumes were fantastic, as were the band, the food and the company. We were thrilled to find out that £9,000 was raised to be shared between Jamie’s Farm and the Burlington Danes Academy. Many thanks to everyone who helped make the event such a successful evening.

    Grants and trust
    Jamie’s Farm have been extremely pleased to have received support and funding from a number of trusts and foundations in recent months: the support of the Dulverton Trust, Future and the Woodward Charitable Trust will enable us to reach more young people and give them the opportunity of visiting Jamie’s Farm.


    Farm News
    As spring approaches, it is a busy period for the animals on the farm: three of our sows, Tess, Waynetta and Belinda have farrowed 24 piglets between them; we have one calf already with 10 cows iminent and we have 11 healthy lambs with 21 more ewes left to go. We have also excitedly started moving stock to Hill House farm - our year old bulls and heiffers are looking very pleased with their new grazing and the cockerel is strutting around his new enclosure. We are also busy preparing our new vegetable garden  - first jobs include rotivating the land, planting fruit trees and fencing the patch to stop the hungry rabbits and deer.
     
    All the best,
     
    Jamie
     

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