It was wonderful to welcome young people from our most local partner, Priory School in Lewes, at the start of this month. We always love working with Priory and they brought loads of energy and enthusiasm to the week, especially when working with our new-born lambs.
We were also delighted to welcome back another regular partner, Warlingham School. It was fantastic to see young people pushing themselves out of their comfort zone and really challenging themselves.
The young people from Harris Academy Clapham also visited us this month and particularly enjoyed playing with Harris, the goat named in honour of the school’s last visit a year ago! The group arrived on the train, and it’s always fantastic to welcome young people in this way – the 45 minute journey from Clapham Junction to Cooksbridge transported these young people to another world in the blink of an eye, and it was great to see them throwing themselves in to life on the farm.
We welcomed Willingdon Community School, a new partner, to the farm this month too – this partnership has come about as it’s the old school of our wonderful apprentice Riley. It’s been fantastic to see how impressed his former teachers have been with how Riley has grown and developed on the farm, and to see him really role-modelling for the young people who came to the farm this week.
To round off a busy March on the farm, we’ve been delighted to have our friends from Big Leaf with us to launch their latest young leaders programme. It’s always a joy to welcome Big Leaf to the farm, and to see some young people again who were last on the farm 18 months ago – to see their progress and development in that time really is fabulous. Great food too!
The farm is teeming with new life – there are lambs everywhere, the garden is starting to bloom, and it’s feeling like spring! It’s always a really special time of year to share with visiting young people. Charlotte, our Farm Manager, has been working all hours to support our flock, who are in fine health, despite some appalling weather conditions. It’s fair to say the farm is pretty soggy, but this has at least afforded us some great opportunities for puddle jumping!
We’re very sadly saying goodbye to Matthew Keedy at Easter – he’s been an absolute joy to have as part of the team and we are all going to miss him dearly. We wish him all the best as he relocates to Sheffield!
We’re delighted to say that we will be joined in April by Felix Haxby, who will become our new Visit Coordinator. Felix brings lots of experience working with young people to the farm, as well a load of practical skills that he’s looking forward to sharing with our visiting groups. We feel very lucky to have him joining the team.
Our next Open Day is coming up on Saturday 18 May – we’d love to see as many people there as possible to learn more about our work and see what we’ve been up to!
