Updated May 14th, 2021

From the week commencing Monday 17^th May residential visits for schools are allowed to resume in line with the latest easing of restrictions. Vulnerable children from disadvantaged areas who have been waiting for over a year to get out of their home cities will finally get the chance to benefit from the sense of adventure and endeavour that we offer.

And while we are proud of the significant amount of impact achieved through our Day Visit programme, we are delighted that before the next academic year begins, we will welcome over 550 children from over 40 schools for our powerful residential programme. Given the level of demand that we are experiencing from our partner schools (we are full over the summer!) it is clear there is real appetite for the intervention we offer; the vulnerable children we target are struggling not to be excluded or struggling with their mental health. We have faced these issues ever since our inception in 2009, but they have only been magnified by the pandemic and associated lockdowns.

The Jamie’s Farm residential is not a holiday. It is huge fun, and the children make memories they will never forget. If it was just that, it would probably be enough right now.

But it is so much more. Working alongside us on our farms, the children get the opportunity to feel purposeful and capable, a feeling that has been sorely lacking in the last year. They live alongside us in our communities, and experience a sense of belonging – again something that has dissipated as we have all been expected to stay indoors. And they have the chance to develop therapeutic relationships with our staff who are trained to allow them to process the challenges they have experienced and return home and to school with an armoury of strategies to help them to thrive.

So even if others may be looking forward to May 17^th because they’ll be able to eat indoors in a restaurant or to stay at their favourite hotel, we are looking forward to it because it means we can get back to what we do best: using the beauty, purpose and community of our rural farms to transform the lives of disadvantaged children across the country. And as ever with Jamie’s Farm, we are cracking on with it at the very first moment we can.

With Best Wishes,
The Jamie’s Farm Team