This month we welcomed a new partner to the Monmouth farm – The John Roan School. During the week, every young person stepped up to various challenges and working together we completed lots of jobs on the farm. Highlights included sorting lambs for market, transporting timber to the woodshed, enjoying the stunning views at the top of The Skirrid and coming together in our outdoor pizza hut to enjoy a range of delicious pizzas!
It was a real pleasure welcoming Haringey Learning Partnership to the farm. Over the course of the week the young people challenged themselves to face their fears – stroking the dogs, heading into a field of cows and climbing onto a rope swing over the stream. A highlight of the week was creating and sharing the delicious, healthy home-cooked food. Having a ‘digital detox’ was a scary thought for some but it was clear that the break from mobile phones and technology was a positive experience. The young people reflected that it helped them to enjoy each moment, talk to others more and sleep better.
During Elly’s follow-up visit to Eastern High School, she enjoyed a tour of the school and time in the school garden with the Jamie’s Farmers. This space has been used by the visiting staff and young people to spend time together and build on the relationships they crafted at the farm. With compost, seeds and seed trays from the farm, the group helped to sow a variety of vegetable and flower seeds. Elly’s visit ended with a check-in to find out how everyone was, followed by a fairly competitive round of farm cahoot!
Jo visited ACT Schools Cardiff and it was great to see the visiting group again to catch up about everything they have achieved since their time on the farm. The young people were very proud to show Jo their Jamie’s Farm display board and some fantastic artwork related to their Jamie’s Farm experience.
Bronny visited Baxter college where she was warmly welcomed at reception by some of the Jamie’s Farmers. As they walked across the school it was lovely to see the young people happily greet each other as more joined us along the walk. This group have formed some strong friendships following their visit to the farm. The young people were excited to watch their highlights film and very proud to receive their certificates – reminders of all the things they achieved at the farm, and all that they can keep doing.
There has been a lot of media attention for our amazing Lowline cows and the conservation grazing we do with them. They have featured on ITV news, local radio, radio 4 and in the Telegraph this month. Â
We have weaned our lambs and they are enjoying our varied and delicious herbal leys.
We’d like to raise a toast to the amazing community in Narth, near Monmouth for choosing Jamie’s Farm as the beneficiary for their annual Big Breakfast! Led by Luisa Sadler, the children ran a tight ship serving approximately 80 delicious breakfasts in just over 2 hours. They were delighted to raise £400. Thank you – Diolch yn fawr!
