Jamie's Farm September News

 

Dear Friends
As the leaves are changing colour and the first frost is upon us, life on the farm is as full of life as ever. With sixty students visiting us, and an abundance of new stock on the farm, the place has been brimming with energy.
To see pictures of all the events that have been happening on the farm in September, click here
Visits
September saw an exiting visit from King Solomon Academy, a new ARK school based in Paddington, London. The entire year 7 cohort of 60 students came to visit us, in groups of 20 over an eight day period. This was a new model of working with young people, and due to its success, one which we hope to develop further in the future. Their time on the farm allowed them to develop a community spirit, self esteem and helped the students to nurture close relationships with their classmates and teachers. The visit featured (amongst other things) building new fences, making bread and planting broad beans in the vegetable patch. In particular, the group loved the long walks with the dogs and had great fun singing around the campfire in the woods.  
Here’s what a few of the students said about the time on the farm:
                ‘This trip has inspired me to keep going until I achieve my goal’ Dren
‘At first I was not looking forward to the trip, now it is one of the best trips ever. I loved it so much. It was so amazing words can’t describe. It was absolutely fantastic and this will always be in my memory.’  Mustack
‘This trip has inspired me to open my own farm!’ Wafaa
And the KSA staff enjoyed it too!

 
We are eagerly looking forward to our next trip of year 11 students from Burlington Danes Academy, London who will be visiting us in half term, 26th-30th October.
 
Hill House Farm
The deal to purchase our new home, at Hill House Farm, is slowly but surely coming closer to completion. We are all so excited about the move and we cannot wait to become part of the Ditteridge community. Jamie and Tish had a lovely evening at the Harvest supper on Saturday and felt they could not have received a warmer welcome to he community. 
Fundraising
Waitrose charity of the month
We were delighted to be selected as a Waitrose Charity of the Month for October. Pop in to Waitrose, Bath to see more information and help us raise as much funds as possible by choosing our box to deposit the green coin you receive when you pay for your shopping.
Bristol Half Marathon 2010
We have been lucky enough to be awarded Golden Bond Charity places for the Bath Half Marathon 2010. This great run takes place on the 7th March 2010 and is one of the best organised runs in the country. The route takes in the historic city of Bath, before heading out into the surrounding countryside. It is not only a great opportunity to support our fundraising, but also to build up your own fitness. We have great plans to support our runners, including regular training get-togethers and a pre-race pasta party the night before. We really hope that our runners represent a wide range of different abilities, so whatever your experience, if you're interested please get in contact. For more information please visit our webpage here, or email chris@jamiesfarm.org.uk. Entry forms are available from Chris, or you can download them from our website.
The Bristol Funding Network
On September 23rd (in fact, Jamie’s birthday), the Jamie’s Farm team went to Bristol to attend the Bristol Funding Network meeting. We were among five different charities presenting to potential funders and were thrilled to receive over £6000 in generous donations as a result.
Support Us
 If you are interested in supporting us, there are many ways to do it. You can make a one off donation, or set up a regular monthly donation online via our justgiving page here here  
Or if you would like to organise a fund raising event, email janebrinson@hotmail.com and request our brand new fund raising pack which is brimming with ideas and advice.
 
We want to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported us in the last month, and over the last year. Whether financially, with your time, advice or materials, we really couldn’t do it without you . Thank you!
Farm News
Autumn is proving to be a productive time of year on the farm as we are expanding our breeding stock to prepare for the new year. With two sows farrowing last night and another due any day, the piglet count is twenty and bets are on that we will reach 30 by tomorrow. We have also just purchased a new Welsh boar and a Suffolk ram and look forward to seeing their progeny born in the spring. We were pleased to find that our Aberdeen Angus bull, Maxwell, is fulfilling his duties; (despite Jamie’s doubts) he has impregnated all 10 of our breeding cows so we’ll be expecting calves in the spring. To add to our ever growing brood, 23 chicks hatched in our incubator last week and are growing at an incredible rate, as well as receiving a lot of attention from our visiting students.
After the sad news last month of the trusty Beast’s (our Mitsibushi) demise, we’re pleased to say we have managed to purchase a second hand double cab Landrover. This has made a huge difference to all activities on the farm. Half of the funds to purchase the vehicle were raised through generous donations after Bel Mooney’s article in the Daily Mail. For photographs click here.
Bring a group
If you are interested in bringing a group down to the farm then please get in contact. We are taking bookings for spring 2010 so now is the time to get booked in! We have lots of information that will help you to arrange a visit and to position a proposal to your school, just ask by getting in contact janebrinson@googlemail.com
As always, we are keen to hear from you if you have any suggestions, donations or offers of help.
Until next time,
The Jamie’s Farm team.
To see photos of September on the farm click here 

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