Jamie's Farm July Newsletter

 July Newsletter

Greetings from Jamie’s Farm and welcome to our July newsletter – your source of news and pictures from Jamie’s Farm.

It’s been a really busy month down here on the farm. We have had three excellent visits, and although the weather has not been as kind as we had hoped, every group has been able to make the most of the long evenings with country walks, bonfires and BBQs. In addition, several groups have braved the torrential rain and camped outside. 

Welcome especially to the 200 Teach First participants who have signed up to our mailing list recently. It’s great to have your enthusiasm and support – we look forward to seeing you down on the farm in the near future.

So firstly, and most importantly: click here to see the pictures from the last month's activities!

New Farm News

Over the next five years, the plan is to provide residential visits for increasing numbers of young people. In order to do this, Jamie’s Farm needs to be situated on a new, larger site. A property has been found which has enough accommodation as well as space, outbuildings and planning permission for expansion.

Over the last month we have been working hard to try and secure the purchase of Hill House Farm. We are still looking for some funding for the purchase of the property, so if you think you can help through donations or loans then please contact Jamie (jamie@jamiesfarm.org.uk) We are really excited about the potential of this new home to impact larger numbers of young people, so please all keep your fingers crossed.

Visits

The month kicked off with a great visit from London Academy. The weather was good and the visitors got stuck in: helping Steve with his sheep, sharing a meal with a goat, swimming in the river and putting on the finest music concert Sheephouse has ever seen. 

One student explains what she wants to change about herself as a result of the visit: ‘I will not give up too easily, start believing in myself, give people advise when their having a difficult time too, & be a bit calmer then I usually am at home, as well as help out a bit more'

We look forward to seeing how the students got on back at school, and are hoping to welcoming them back for a consolidation visit in September.

Next, one of our first groups back in 2007 - North Manchester High School for Girls - made their second visit. While here, the 10 students worked closely with our new volunteer and pottery expert Ceri, with all the girls producing some great work. They also got heavily involved at Steve’s farm, separating the lambs from the ewes with passion.

Students focussed on improved attitude and behaviour:

·        Ii think I will try and take my behaviour back to school and home with me and learn to talk about my problems instead of getting angry about it.'

·        ‘I will try to be more calm and work things out without letting my temper get in the way of my thoughts.'

·        'I have learnt to eat less sugar and to cope with what you have and what you cannot have and DEAL WITH IT'

·        ‘I learn that I should be more self confident and that everyone is beautiful in there own way, I also learn to try new foods, and talk to adults about things I find hard'

·        I would recommend it to other people because I think it challenges people and helps them understand how and why they act.'

One staff member comments 'I feel [students] have really developed/matured and gone through an emotional journey'

Kids Company’s Education Group once again made a welcome return to the Farm, with a nice mix of old faces and new friends. They were privileged to witness the destruction of the grain silo at Steve’s farm, nurtured our baby ducklings, ate heartily and helped our 31 new pigs to settle in.

'As always, the children have hugely benefited from staying at Jamie's Farm. The staff have been extremely accommodating, and the children have spent the past four days learning important life skills and how to harness positive energy. The one-on-one sessions will prove invaluable, and the six Kids Company students are already asking when they can come back again. It's great to see them in a calm, relaxing environment.'

Evaluation

We continue to evaluate our work, and have analysed satisfaction ratings from staff and students visiting between January and July. The outstanding headlines are: 

·        8.9/10 value for money

·        9.5/10 overall benefit to students

·        9.8/10 overall staff and student satisfaction

·        In 9 of 10 categories the average satisfaction rating is outstanding!

New Media World

It is indeed a brave new world, and here at Jamie’s Farm we are bringing ourselves well up to date:

Twitter – follow all the excitement of school visits, funding success stories and animal escapes. Visit www.twitter.com/jamiesfarm to sign up and follow the fun.

JustGiving – are now handling our online donations and gift aid claims. You can visit our page directly at www.justgiving.com/jamiesfarm or via our website. Please sign up now to become a monthly supporter of Jamie's Farm. As well as offering the option of setting up regular monthly payments, they also enable supporters to run sponsored events for the charity. If you have any great ideas, please let us know.

T-Shirts – spot Tish’s fancy hand screen printed Jamie’s Farm T-Shirt in the pictures HERE. The latest must have fashion item for the discerning gentleperson, these will be available to purchase soon. Watch this space.

Bath Half Marathon 2010

Jamie’s Farm have been selected as an Official Race Charity for this great annual event and we have 25 Golden Bond places. The race takes place on the 7th March 2009 and covers a distance of 13.1 miles around the beautiful city of Bath. If you feel like a challenge and would like to support our work by running the race for us, please get in contact. More information will follow shortly and application packs will be available for download on our website soon. SAVE the date.

Bring a group

If you are interested in bringing a group down to the farm then please get in contact. We have limited availability until February 2010 so squeeze in quick! It is a good idea to get some support in school for the idea, so speak to your SENCO, line manager or Head of Year about the idea, showing them the website with testimonies and videos of past visits. We can provide more detailed help on arranging a visit and positioning a proposal to your school, so please ask.

Look out for our next update at the beginning of September, and meanwhile if you are keen to organise a visit do get in contact info@jamiesfarm.org.uk

As always we are very grateful to you all for your ongoing support.

The Jamie's Farm team

Greetings from Jamie’s Farm and welcome to our July newsletter – your source of news and pictures from Jamie’s Farm.

It’s been a really busy month down here on the farm. We have had three excellent visits, and although the weather has not been as kind as we had hoped, every group has been able to make the most of the long evenings with country walks, bonfires and BBQs. In addition, several groups have braved the torrential rain and camped outside. 

Welcome especially to the 200 Teach First participants who have signed up to our mailing list recently. It’s great to have your enthusiasm and support – we look forward to seeing you down on the farm in the near future.

So firstly, and most importantly: click here  to see the pictures from the last month's activities!

New Farm News

Over the next five years, the plan is to provide residential visits for increasing numbers of young people. In order to do this, Jamie’s Farm needs to be situated on a new, larger site. A property has been found which has enough accommodation as well as space, outbuildings and planning permission for expansion.

Over the last month we have been working hard to try and secure the purchase of Hill House Farm. We are still looking for some funding for the purchase of the property, so if you think you can help through donations or loans then please contact Jamie jamie@jamiesfarm.org.uk We are really excited about the potential of this new home to impact larger numbers of young people, so please all keep your fingers crossed.

Visits

The month kicked off with a great visit from London Academy. The weather was good and the visitors got stuck in: helping Steve with his sheep, sharing a meal with a goat, swimming in the river and putting on the finest music concert Sheephouse has ever seen. 

One student explains what she wants to change about herself as a result of the visit: ‘I will not give up too easily, start believing in myself, give people advise when their having a difficult time too, & be a bit calmer then I usually am at home, as well as help out a bit more'

We look forward to seeing how the students got on back at school, and are hoping to welcoming them back for a consolidation visit in September.

 

Next, one of our first groups back in 2007 - North Manchester High School for Girls - made their second visit. While here, the 10 students worked closely with our new volunteer and pottery expert Ceri, with all the girls producing some great work. They also got heavily involved at Steve’s farm, separating the lambs from the ewes with passion.

Students focussed on improved attitude and behaviour:

·        Ii think I will try and take my behaviour back to school and home with me and learn to talk about my problems instead of getting angry about it.'

·        ‘I will try to be more calm and work things out without letting my temper get in the way of my thoughts.'

·        'I have learnt to eat less sugar and to cope with what you have and what you cannot have and DEAL WITH IT'

·        ‘I learn that I should be more self confident and that everyone is beautiful in there own way, I also learn to try new foods, and talk to adults about things I find hard'

·        I would recommend it to other people because I think it challenges people and helps them understand how and why they act.'

One staff member comments 'I feel [students] have really developed/matured and gone through an emotional journey'

Kids Company’s Education Group once again made a welcome return to the Farm, with a nice mix of old faces and new friends. They were privileged to witness the destruction of the grain silo at Steve’s farm, nurtured our baby ducklings, ate heartily and helped our 31 new pigs to settle in.

'As always, the children have hugely benefited from staying at Jamie's Farm. The staff have been extremely accommodating, and the children have spent the past four days learning important life skills and how to harness positive energy. The one-on-one sessions will prove invaluable, and the six Kids Company students are already asking when they can come back again. It's great to see them in a calm, relaxing environment.'

 

Evaluation

We continue to evaluate our work, and have analysed satisfaction ratings from staff and students visiting between January and July. The outstanding headlines are: 

·        8.9/10 value for money

·        9.5/10 overall benefit to students

·        9.8/10 overall staff and student satisfaction

·        In 9 of 10 categories the average satisfaction rating is outstanding!

 

New Media World 

It is indeed a brave new world, and here at Jamie’s Farm we are bringing ourselves well up to date:

Twitter – follow all the excitement of school visits, funding success stories and animal escapes. Visit www.twitter.com/jamiesfarm to sign up and follow the fun.

Just Giving – are now handling our online donations and gift aid claims. You can visit our page directly at www.justgiving.com/jamiesfarm or via our website . Please sign up now to become a monthly supporter of Jamie's Farm. As well as offering the option of setting up regular monthly payments, they also enable supporters to run sponsored events for the charity. If you have any great ideas, please let us know.

T-Shirts – spot Tish’s fancy hand screen printed Jamie’s Farm T-Shirt in the pictures HERE . The latest must have fashion item for the discerning gentleperson, these will available to purchase soon. Watch this space.

Bath Half Marathon 2010

Jamie’s Farm have been selected as an Official Race Charity for this great annual event and we have 25 Golden Bond places. The race takes place on the 7th March 2009 and covers a distance of 13.1 miles around the beautiful city of Bath. If you feel like a challenge and would like to support our work by running the race for us, please get in contact. More information will follow shortly and application packs will be available for download on our website soon.

Bring a group

If you are interested in bringing a group down to the farm then please get in contact. We have limited availability until February 2010 so squeeze in quick! It is a good idea to get some support in school for the idea, so speak to your SENCO, line manager or Head of Year about the idea, showing them the website with testimonies and videos of past visits. We can provide more detailed help on arranging a visit and positioning a proposal to your school, so please ask.

 

Look out for our next update at the beginning of September, and meanwhile if you are keen to organise a visit do get in contact info@jamiesfarm.org.uk

 

As always we are very grateful to you all for your ongoing support.

The Jamie's Farm team