This month at Lewes farm, we have welcomed some old friends and made new connections. We began the month with young people and staff from Haringey Learning Partnership, who we are delighted to have an ongoing relationship with. The young people from Haringey really got stuck in to their jobs while they were with us, and it was wonderful to see them show kindness and resilience throughout their time on the farm. We were especially pleased to welcome back two young people who had previously been to the Monmouth farm, and were really interested to hear about all the differences between the two different Jamie’s Farms from them.
Following a week of team training and the whole company away days, we hosted our first visit from Three Rivers Academy in Surrey on the farm. The twelve young people from Three Rivers did brilliantly out on the farm, helping to TB test our cows and giving our horses some spectacular haircuts! They also managed perhaps the wettest walk we have ever attempted on the farm – we have never seen wellies quite so full of water!
Following a brief day visit from some young people from the Enthum Foundation, a partner who we hope to work with more in the future, we have welcomed back our friends from the Big Leaf Foundation for their Young Leaders programme. These young people have all been with us on the farm in the past, and are now embarking on the first stage of a three month programme to support them to advocate for themselves and other displaced young people, and to gain skills that will help them take their next steps to fulfil their ambitions. It’s always incredibly inspiring to work with the young people from Big Leaf, and this week has been no exception.
Recently, we have held two follow-up visits with young people from groups that came to the farm over the summer. Tim and Clare had the chance to see the young people from Big Leaf who visited us over the summer, having a chance to cook with them again and share food. The young people were delighted by the film we had made of their visit, and reminisced fondly about their time on the farm. Matt and Laura also made a trip to Brighton to see the young women from the Hummingbird foundation who came to the farm in August – it was wonderful to reunite this group who formed such a special bond when they were with us on the farm.
Autumn is truly upon us, and preparations for winter are well and truly underway. Charlotte has been preparing the barns to welcome in some of our livestock for the winter as the ground gets wetter, and we now have lots of pregnant animals on the farm ready for new life in the spring. As Halloween approached, our Pumpkin patch really came in to its own, and it’s been lovely to bring the pumpkins and squashes into the kitchen, for eating, carving, and decorating the house.
This month we want to celebrate the tremendous Tim, our Food Specialist, film maker, and all-round good egg. Tim has been working especially hard this month, not only whipping up some spectacular meals with young people, but also leading the way in cooking for the whole organisation at our annual Away Days (along with the other Food Specialists from other farms). Tim and his merry band served up some spectacular dishes – and then Tim took it one stage further by acting as master of ceremonies in our very own Jamie’s Farm version of Taskmaster. Everyone who comes to the farm will know that Tim is an absolutely wonderful ambassador for the charity – he does a brilliant job week in, week out. Thank you Tim!
