Jamie’s Farm Lewes has had a terrific start to 2023 – it has felt like a season of wonderful renewal. We have welcomed new members of the team, a range of new partners and some familiar faces, and to cap it all off, new life has started to arrive on the farm!
January saw us welcome three new faces to our friendly team, who are bringing a wonderful fresh energy to everything we do on the farm. Our new Garden Coordinator Jessie has already got well and truly stuck in, bringing a wonderful purpose and sense of fun to all the sessions she is running in our garden and preparing it for an exciting year of growing. She is joined by Katie, our new Horse Specialist, who has created a brilliant bond with our resident ponies Toffee and Nessie and is sharing her infectious love of all things equine with every young person who visits the farm. Finally, our new Lead Housekeeper Penny is doing a brilliant job of ensuring that our beautiful farmhouse is kept in ship shape and is as welcoming as it can possibly be to everyone who comes through our doors.Â
The past month has seen a fabulous variety of groups visiting the farm. We started the year with visits from our local partners Chailey School, who were only with us for a short time but made a big impression. Our friends at Big Leaf also visited us in January to launch their Young Leaders programme – a visit made particularly memorable by the sheer quality and variety of the cooking. Another regular partner of ours, Compass School Southwark, also visited us at the end of January for a visit that saw the creation of a new bug hotel, driven forward by one young person who we couldn’t keep away from the garden!Â
We’ve been lucky to welcome several new groups to the farm at the start of the year. Tendring Technology College had a fantastic first visit, with their young people seizing every opportunity that the farm had to offer, in the woods, the garden, and out on the farm itself. Harris Academy Clapham’s visit left a lasting legacy – a new kid goat born during their time here has been named Harris in their honour. While Warlingham School have visited the farm before, the arrival of the first lambs of the season made their visit feel very special – it was unforgettable to witness the hallowed silence of 12 young people as they watched a lamb being born right in front of them.
As the spring sunshine starts to peek through the winter mist, we’re looking forward to longer days ahead and more brilliant and hard-working young people on the farm.
