We have had a fantastic start to the new academic year at Skipton, welcoming brilliant groups from Eastwood Community School, Co-op Academy Grange, Meadow Bank Community School, Laycock Primary School and Clayton Village Primary School. We have been blown away by how engaged, hardworking and joyous all these young people are!
Our Senior Visit Coordinator, Ben, recently got to visit Co-op Academy Grange, where he was greeted at the door by a very keen young person who had been to the farm before, showing him around the very large site to the classroom where the new group of young people were waiting to meet him. The group were really keen on finding out more about the farm, though were disappointed to learn we wouldn’t be getting any pandas at the farm anytime soon.
When thinking of special memories this month, one stands out in particular. When having a check-in meeting sat around the table in our cosy Old Dairy, one of our staff heard a young person lean over to his friend and whisper “I just can’t stop smiling on the farm!”. We won’t be forgetting his contagious smile in a long time!
Work has begun at pace on our new barn, with a large footprint in the bottom yard and paddock being cleared and levelled and foundations being laid. We have also had a large amount of the bottom yard refreshed with new concrete, giving us much more useable space and making the farm look brand new at the same time.
The fantastic Rob Carnie has been with us recently, sharing his plans for our developing garden with the rest of the team, including our awesome volunteers. Rob had dedicated a huge amount of time and effort making both the garden and orchard look fantastic, getting them ready for winter and preparing for a busy spring. If that doesn’t seem like enough work, Rob has also been involved in the exciting plans for our new wetland area, working alongside our Head of Farm, Mark and the brilliant team at the Ribble River Trust.
Our Head of Farm (and JF Farming Lead), Mark, has been as busy as ever. He’s been down to the Bath Farm HQ to induct new Farm Managers who are joining our sister locations, alongside everything else on his never-ending to-do list. We don’t know where he gets the energy from, but we’re always in awe of his passion for all things farming and Jamie’s Farm!
Thanks to one of our great volunteers, Catherine, the young people visiting the farm this half term have been able to get stuck into pressing apples to make deliciously fresh juice. Everyone involved absolutely loved it, with one young person commenting that being involved in the juicing process from start to finish made the juice taste even sweeter.
Our Visit Coordinator Ben was recently promoted to Senior Visit Coordinator and has been taking on more responsibilities around the farm, including exciting new volunteering opportunities, so keep an eye on our social media accounts for more information!
Ben will also be hosting a Jamie’s Farm stall at the upcoming Changing Minds Child & Family Services conference, “Holding the Space”, in Manchester on the 18th of October 2024. Please come and say hi if you are attending!
