Jamie’s Farm, Bath

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Jess Callen

After completing a degree in Drama at Winchester University, Jess started work at Harlington school in West London.  She initially split her time teaching Drama and working with children in the school’s Pupil Study Centre.  Jess soon realised her passion for working with vulnerable children and focused predominantly in the centre.  After four years she began her new role managing the Pupil Study Centre where she has now spent the last eight years developing.  During her time at Harlington Jess visited Jamie’s Farm on a number of occasions.  Inspired by the work she saw being done at the farm and the experiences that children were having,  Jess secured funding for the school.  A ‘Market Garden’ was designed and created for students to access learning in a therapeutic setting outside of the classroom.

Alongside Jess’s experience, her enthusiasm and love for the outdoors, we’re delighted to have her as part of our team at Jamie’s Farm Bath.  She is committed to ensuring that the personal journeys that the children make at the farm are fulfilling, as well as give them the confidence and drive to flourish.

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Rachel Toynton

Rachel graduated from UCL with a degree in Anthropology before going on to join the Teach First programme, teaching Citizenship and the Humanities in Croydon and Stratford, and spending a year working as a project officer for the SSAT. Despite living in London prior to moving to the farm, Rachel grew up in Wiltshire and loves to share her passion for all animals, particularly horses, with the young people who visit. She coordinates visits and works closely with young people and schools before and after they come to the Farm.

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Alice Mackenzie

Alice has taken a winding road in her journey leading her to Jamie’s Farm, a place which she feels captures the values and beliefs that are important to her. It was only after completing a law degree and briefly embarking on a career as a solicitor that she changed direction and discovered a love for teaching in a primary school in Hackney. This is where she really experienced the impact on young people of having someone who believed in them and who showed an interest in them as individuals. Alice enjoyed teaching for 7 years going on to teach in Islington then Hertfordshire. As she had had experience of safeguarding as a teacher and could see some of the difficulties young people sometimes faced in their home beyond the classroom, she became a social worker. She maintained her passion for ensuring the voices of young people could be heard during challenging times when it may sometimes have felt that adults were the ones making decisions for them rather than with them. Her focus on this, together with a love of nature and a first-hand experience of the transformative impact of residential trips, led her to finding a role at Jamie’s Farm. She is very much looking forward to ensuring the young people visiting have a fantastic experience and discover new things about themselves so they can begin to unlock all of their potential.

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Julie Tonks

After 10 years working in further education Julie has swapped the classroom for the farm. She was running a specialist programme for vulnerable young people who found mainstream education difficult, so she understands the challenges the young people visiting the farm face. As Therapy Coordinator, Julie leads group meetings and has personalised therapeutic conversations with all young people who visit the farm, in order to help them piece together pathways for their future success on returning to school. Julie enjoys baking, walking the dogs and caring for our rabbits.

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Anton Spurr

Lived the city life in North London for many years and was ready for a rural lifestyle after becoming a father moving to Devon then onto the countryside of Bath. Realising the importance of guidance and development in young people Anton has completed training as a Volunteer Mentor in his spare time.  With experience working on a small holding in Italy for many years Anton loves the outdoors with a passion for horses, animals of all kinds and is a very keen cook.

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Octavia de Ferranti

After gaining her master’s in psychology from the University of East London, Octavia began volunteering at Jamie’s Farm and has gradually become more involved. She now manages a new enhanced legacy initiative as well as providing delivery support across all the farms. A jack-of-all trades but master of none (!), she is happy to get involved with all sessions from cooking to farming, but she particularly enjoys the walks as there is usually a chance to get to know young people better in the relaxed environment. 

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Doug Burcombe

Doug ensures all the animals are happy on our growing farm. Currently we have 100 cattle, 250 sheep ,100 pigs and 80 chickens, all of which Doug tends to alongside children daily.

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Janine Stevenson

Janine spent more than 20 years enjoying the pleasures and challenges of being a primary school teacher. During this time she realised how fundamentally important the relationships between the young people, and the adults involved with them, are and that this relationship built on trust and respect, became her philosophy. This philosophy has led her to swap the classroom for the farm. She has always enjoyed cooking, whether that is with her own family or friends. She believes that the kitchen is the centre of any house, and this is also the case at the farm. She loves being outside in the garden and has always been a keen gardener with an allotment. Planting, growing on, picking and eating the produce from the garden gives her a great sense of satisfaction and she enjoys sharing this passion with all. She is really looking forward to her sessions with the young people in both the garden and the kitchen and hoping to pass on her passion for one or the other or even both!

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Laura Chandi

It was a move to Devon from London aged 12, where Laura spent many years handling lots of so called ‘difficult’ horses, that ignited her love of horses. Knowing there was another way to communicate with these misunderstood animals, drove Laura to study and work to become an ambassador for the better understanding between human and horse.

Laura now works as an Equine Therapeutic Facilitator at Jamie’s Farm Bath, as well as at her own smallholding just around the corner from the farm. Laura has trained with many equine professionals, including Monty Roberts, Kelly Marks and Rupert Isaacson; covering different aspects of horse handling, psychology, and equine therapy. She loves witnessing the amazing connections the visiting children at the farm have with the horses, and to see their confidence and self-esteem grow as a result. Within these interactions, there have been some truly magical moments over the years!

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Ella

As a Jamie’s Farm Apprentice, Ella is part of the team at Bath whilst studying for a qualification in youth work. Ella has huge empathy for young people who feel misunderstood and out of place in the school environment. This inspired her decision to begin the apprenticeship and she hopes to develop her skills in connecting with young people.

Ella has experienced firsthand the transformative power that access to nature can have, having attended alternative primary school where most of the day was spent outside. She is passionate about sharing the power nature can have on mental health with the visiting young people. Ella is a keen photographer and is looking forward to supporting young people to share their visual experiences of the farm programme. In her spare time, you will find Ella cuddling her horse Zen, going for long walks, or taking lots of photographs.