This July we were happy to welcome back Kind Solomon Academy, a long standing partner of Jamie’s Farm. Their young people brought so much life and laughter to the farm, while we enjoyed hill rolling, playing pool, cooking delicious meals together as well as reflecting in smaller groups. Lampton Academy, another of our returning schools, did a fantastic job of selecting a special group of young people. We relished watching them form new friendships and growing in confidence over the week.
We are very fortunate to be welcoming young people as part of Adventure with Friends, who will be enjoying a well-deserved holiday on the farm. Some of these young people have been coming to the farm for three years, and it feels incredibly special to have seen them grow over time and always return with the same enthusiasm.
Our team have been busy with follow-up meetings, seeing groups we have worked with again before their summer holiday. This has included School 21 in Stratford, Hailsham Community College and St George’s School. A highlight for us was learning that a visiting young person had the confidence and initiative to start their own cricket team back in school.
The Bath farm remains as busy as ever with all the silage having now been completed and straw is nearly ready in a couple of our fields. New piglets have been born, much to the delight of all visitors. Plans are already afoot for the timings of the next lambing season, with rams joining our ewes shortly. The farmers on our team are enthusiastic about the next steps we can take towards regenerative farming, always thinking of innovative practices and ways to improve soil quality for our animals.
During our team week (when we have no visiting school on the farm), we welcomed the opportunity to host a CAMHS team day. This was a wonderful opportunity to welcome fantastic mental health professionals to the farm, to share insights and knowledge on how best to support our young people.
Our annual Summer Party also took place last week, where our teams and volunteers from across six farms came together for the day. This was a special opportunity for us to connect, reflect and celebrate our shared values for supporting all the young people who come through our farms.
This month we were also very fortunate to have some fantastic volunteers who contribute their time, passion and energy to maintaining our farm as well as providing our young people with the best possible experience. Thank you to Catherine and Katie who joined us for the big groups sharing their passions respectively for gardening and craft, doing a fantastic job of engaging our young people and supporting them to discover new skills.
Thank you to Camilla who is our newest volunteer to join the Jamie’s Farm team and whose energy and positivity every Monday is much appreciated. We also want to extend a big thank you to the Bath University volunteers who came to the farm last week, worked really hard and made a real difference to our farm.
