Jamie's Farm June Newsletter
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the latest update from Jamie’s Farm – where we bring you all the latest news from down on the farm.
As always, we have a range of exciting photos which can be viewed online - CLICK HERE
The weather –
As you will no doubt have observed, the weather has become increasingly fine over the last month, and we have been making the most of this over the last few visits, with long summer walks, swims in the river, and barbeques.
Art –
Following several generous donations towards art supplies, we have purchased screen printing kits along with blank t-shirts and eco-bags to print on. This has proved a great success, with all the boys from Bow school return to London with personalised, professional looking t-shirts.
On the farm –
The big news this month has been the hay making. Despite being out foxed by the weather, we have successfully cut the top fields and it has all been bailed into 148 big bales of haylage. Not only will this allow us to be self sufficient in feed for our cattle, sheep and horses, but we are also able to sell what remains locally. Our cattle numbers have increased lately and we are now up to thirty, however we still need more to keep up with the abundant clover. All our sheep have been sheered, and we will be starting to draw some of our lambs for the butcher in the coming weeks.
A new home –
As you may know, we have been looking for a new permanent home for Jamie’s Farm – somewhere we can develop to meet the exact needs of our young people. At the moment we are excited about a local farm that has come on the market – Hill House Farm. This meets all of our criteria for location, and offers both the opportunity for immediate movement of the project, as well as great possibilities for expansion. Any such move will require a large fundraising effort; any support with this would be greatly appreciated.
Pictures of Hill House Farm are on the slideshow HERE
Trips –
In the last month we have run several successful trips. Kids Company returned for an excellent trip at the end of May, and were followed by Waverley School from Birmingham. With the later trip we walked into Bath and went round the Roman Baths. This was a great learning experience, with the young people particularly enjoying the opportunity to engage in religious debate with the role-playing Roman priest! In the middle of the month we had a short visit from the staff group of a new ARK academy, King Solomon Academy. The visit provided a great opportunity for staff bonding, as well as introducing the staff to the farm where all the new intake of the school will be coming in October. Most recently we have just run a great visit with 10 boys from Bow School, who helped with the hay making and made the most of the art studio.
All the best,
The Jamie’s Farm Team
