Farms for City Children Spring 2020 Newsletter

www.farmsforcitychildren.org farmsforcitychildren

farmersforaweek

farmsforcitychildren

Spring 2020 Registered Charity Number 325120

CONTENTS

WELCOME

1

Welcome

3

Nethercott House

5

Lower Treginnis

7

Wick Court

9

What the children say

11

War Horse Valley on a Winter morning

It is impossible to send this long-planned and cheerful Spring Newsletter without commenting on the extraordinary circumstances we all face due to the Coronavirus pandemic. With schools closed and nationwide restrictions limiting travel, work, and everyday life, it won’t surprise you to learn that it might be quite some time before children return to our farms.

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News in pictures

15

Challenge yourself

17

Thank you

19

Shop

21

Support Us

CONTACT US Tel: 01392 276381 admin@farmsforcitychildren.org www.farmsforcitychildren.org Farms for City Children, Huxham Barns, Huxham, Exeter, EX5 4EJ Patron HRH The Princess Royal Founders Sir Michael Morpurgo and Lady Clare Morpurgo Chairman Simon Gregor y farmsforcitychildren farmersforaweek farmsforcitychildren Registered Charity Number 325120

Being cooped up inside, isolated from friends, and forbidden to spend too much time outdoors is hard for us all.

It is particularly hard for the children who were supposed to be at our farms this Spring, looking after the piglets and planting out seedlings with their classmates. They’re now stuck indoors with no social interactions, many of them in high-rise flats with no balcony, garden or green spaces to enjoy the Spring sunshine. They will all need a week of mud and magic on the farm more than ever! And that’s what we’re all working really hard to ensure - that we can welcome as many of these cooped-up children as possible for a brilliant week of joy, discovery, laughter and confidence building at the farms; a week to learn all about rural life and where their food comes from; a week to stretch their clipped-wings and see brighter horizons.

Thank you to everyone who has already made a generous contribution to our Urgent Appeal; thank you, so much, for your support. We still have a mountain to climb and quite literally cannot do this without you; every little helps. Thank you.

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direction that will see the Charity opening the farms during the school holidays for groups of children and young people who are facing disadvantage to enjoy a week of mud and magic, just like we will continue to do with school groups during term time. These new groups of children might include looked-after children, young carers, bereaved children, children from military families, or youth groups, for example. Please do get in touch if you know any groups that might be interested.

And so, let’s remind ourselves of why Farms for City Children is such a wonderful, positive experience for children, by returning to the original narrative of this newsletter that started life on a sodden, late-February afternoon when weeks of rain had transformed great swathes of the countryside into vast flood plains. I hope this window back to late Winter and early Spring 2020 will bring you some comfort and respite from the difficulties in our world today and inspire you to contribute towards the future survival of the charity.

As ever, without your kind and generous support it would not be possible for us to share the magic of the countryside with so many deserving children. We are all so incredibly grateful.

Wow, what a soggy start to Spring at all of our farms and across the country! It’s lovely to see some blue skies after such a wet and wild winter. Despite the storms, the children who were staying at our farms this winter all enjoyed a magical time in their wellies and waterproofs – proving the adage that there’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.

Thank you.

With warm wishes from us all

We made some essential improvements to the charity’s Estate this winter, including new roofs for Wick Court and the farmhouse at Lower Treginnis. We hope further improvements will follow in the coming years, especially to future-proof our iconic heritage farmhouses that are at the centre of every child’s week of mud and magic.

VANESSA FOX, CEO

We were delighted that our Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, was able to join us to celebrate thirty-years of Lower Treginnis Farm for City Children in Pembrokeshire.

During that visit The Princess and our Trustees agreed an exciting, new strategic 2

NETHERCOTT HOUSE Farm for City Children, Devon

The children have been kept busy feeding, watering and ensuring there is plenty of hay for each sow and her piglets.

In January we were delighted to welcome Katy Martin as the new Farm School Manager at Nethercott House, taking over from Tim Rose who is now overseeing all three farms as Head of Operations.

The chickens are ver y settled in their new orchard home, laying well and enjoying their days pecking around the base of the trees planted by HSBC volunteers. We are really looking for ward to this area developing as the trees mature. We added an impressive Buff Orpington cockerel and two hens to our breeding trios.

Ver y shortly the children will help care for new chicks after incubating eggs from this trio to increase numbers in our main laying flock.

Children visiting Nethercott House this term have been so excited that our three rare breed large black pigs have produced three farrowings including a special arrival of nine piglets on Christmas Day! In anticipation of the new arrivals the farrowing house had been developed and refurbished which has increased the number of pigs that can be housed in the yard area.

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all having a go at separating the curds and whey with lemon juice. This is a wonderful completion of a rotation of produce experiences on the farm giving them a unique immersive take on ‘farm to fork’.

The Forest School woodland area, where the children build dens, make charcoal, whittle wood and weave willows has been greatly enhanced by the addition of a traditionally built new Roundhouse.

At nightfall the children enjoy the added experience of sitting around the crackling fire singing songs and listening to stories in the inspirational wooded landscape. If they are lucky they might even hear an owl hooting!

The wonderfully restored Victorian Kitchen Garden at Nethercott House offers a host of horticultural activities to enable each child to experience the connection with food – preparing the ground, planting seeds, pollinating in the poly tunnels, growing, weeding, harvesting and then enjoying the fruits of the labours at the dinner table.

One of the most popular activities is the creamery session in our food preparation room. The children make cheese, butter, yoghurt and ice cream, 4

We’ve been thrilled to welcome children from London, Bristol and Port Talbot already this year, and amazed at the transformation in them and the stories of the challenges that they face at home.

It’s a real privilege to offer them a safe space to just be children and give them experiences they’ll never forget.

At the tail end of 2019 we marked 30 years of Farms for City Children at Lower Treginnis with the opening of a new creative classroom. This versatile space is being enjoyed by all the children displaying their creative side, writing stories, painting and drawing, alongside their usual farm-based activities.

LOWER TREGINNIS Farm for City Children, Pembrokeshire

working hard with the children to grow and rear delicious and nutritious food that will end up on some very highend plates across the region. We are looking forward to growing our different enterprises and creating interesting activities for the children and supplying a range of local restaurants.

Spring has arrived at Lower Treginnis Farm for City Children and the sound of lambs and goat kids can be heard echoing around the farm. Our new billy goat Bryn has proved himself and we now have five kids running around entertaining the children. It’s a magical time of year and gives us lots of opportunities to talk to curious young minds about the farming cycle. There are duck eggs in the incubator, a new milking nanny goat called Dice and three Welsh weaner pigs to start our new herd!

We’re excited to be partnering with a few local restaurants and businesses in the St Davids area, and will be 5

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In the “Woodland” area a lot of work has been undertaken, much of it funded by the Halpin Trust. We’ve planted the bank behind the roundhouse, the pond dipping platform is ready for when the weather warms up and there is a new dye plant bed as we have started tie-dyeing with natural materials.

This along with den building, clay, willow, wool weaving, floristry and outdoor cooking make Thursdays a lovely, creative way to end each week with the schools.

We’ve had a steady stream of piglets for the children to watch, feed and weigh – and of course these also provide a wealth of meals.

We have had several visits from Tyler Grange Consultants who have spent their monthly volunteer days helping clear the overgrown moat banks before the birds start nesting and the newts start to emerge for the spring. They have cleared an enormous area and already we are seeing wildflowers appearing as the light gets through.

WICK COURT Farm for City Children, Gloucestershire

beds, feeding and bedding down the sheep, mucking out the poultry and horses and happily weighing the pigs.

Even after the storms they made the most of every puddle.

Wick Court has been welcoming new lambs from the beginning of January and there are still a few of the native breed flock to go. It took several weeks before we could let any outside as the ground has been waterlogged for weeks.

Now the oldest are going out during the day and it’s a fantastic teamwork job for the children to round them up and get them back in each evening. Finally we have seen the sun so maybe the fields will start to dry and the many seedlings huddled in the greenhouse might start to grow.

We are just setting up the incubators to start this season’s hatching, it’s always magical if the children are there to see the birds pecking their way out of those shells. And of course carrying the new chicks carefully to their first pen is a very popular job indeed and requires quiet, calm, careful children.

On the farm we’ve sold our Hereford cattle and bought in a small flock of pure Dorset sheep which should provide early lambs for next year’s schools.

The wet weather hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of the children, they have been barrowing manure onto vegetable 7

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This has been life changing and I will never forget it!

What the children say …

I got to see animals that I didn’t think I’d get to see in my lifetime - horses, cows and chicks.

My confidence and independence has grown, I could never have had this experience if it wasn’t for this trip.

Now I prefer to be in the gorgeous nature outside than on my iPad.

Weighing the piglets was hard but fun because it was all about teamwork.

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I learned that I could do more if I tried my best.

I am so much more confident now - I can do stuff I didn’t think I could.

I’m going to miss the food - the best I’ve ever tasted.

Visiting the farm was probably one of the best weeks of my life and was definitely an unforgettable experience.

You can’t hear constant traffic and can see lots of stars at night.

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11

12

War Horse Valley on a Winter morning

News in pictures

Joanna Lumley’s visit to Lower Treginnis Farm for City Children

Visiting children lead tours of the renovated Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden at Nethercott House Farm for City Children

Fig Leaf Gourds growing in the Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden at Nethercott House Farm for City Children 13

New roof at Wick Court Farm for City Children

HRH The Princess Royal, Patron, at Lower Treginnis Farm for City Children 14

Challenge yourself

Facebook Birthday Fundraisers

for Farms for City Children

Virtual Quizzes: Why not download and host a virtual online quiz and ask friends and family for a donation towards the £100 it costs every day to feed our farm animals?

Due to these exceptional times with the current Coronavirus pandemic, very regretfully our forthcoming fundraising events, including the London Marathon, Tour of Pembrokeshire cycle ride, Easter Monday Ride and Stride, and Yeo Valley Charity Dinner have had to be postponed or cancelled.

Virtual Challenge Events: Could you create your own challenge such as walking, running, cycling or completing circuits in your home and set a target for the number of steps, distance or repetitions you complete? Ask friends and family to help you meet your goals whilst supporting a great cause.

The lack of events and community fundraising inevitably leaves a huge gap in our fundraising income so we are reinventing into a new digital world where we are encouraging you to continue to support us through these difficult times from your homes and in the great outdoors, where possible and safe.

When your birthday is coming up, Facebook will invite you to create a fundraiser. You can select Farms for City Children as your nominated charity and create a target. How about raising £100 to feed our animals for one day? We can supply you with lots of photos of our lovely farm animals to spread awareness and thank supporters.

Many of our wonderful supporters celebrate their birthdays on Facebook every day, with people wishing each other well, sending messages and photos of good times.

In a social-distancing world where birthday celebrations will be limited, why not consider a Facebook Birthday Fundraiser as a great way to make your birthday extra special, more memorable and raise funds for Farms for City Children!

Go to: https://www.justgiving.com/ffcc or donate to our appeal.

Here are some inspiring ideas that you might like to participate in to keep your minds and bodies active and raise much needed funds towards our urgent appeal so we can continue to run our farms and feed and care for our animals:

Future events • Hold the date: Our Charity Dinner generously hosted by Yeo Valley was due to take place in May has been rescheduled to the Autumn and we hope will now take place on Thursday 29th October 2020.

We hope it won’t be too long before we will be able to re-establish our charity events programme and that supporters keen for community and social interaction will commit to supporting us.

From holding a coffee morning, cake sale or quiz to participating in your own or public challenge event we’d love to hear your plans and support you with fundraising tips, hints and resources.

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For further details on any of the above events or to discuss any other ideas of your own get in touch today by contacting us at fundraising@farmsforcitychildren.org or call 01392 276381 16

2019 YOUR IMPACT

IN NUMBERS The congregations of Eaton Bray Methodist Church and Christ Church Southgate whose community lunches and annual fete raised almost £3,000 between them.

We would like to say a big thank you to all our supporters who go above and beyond for Farms for City Children without you we wouldn’t be able to help the 3,000 children from disadvantaged communities spend a transformational week in the beautiful British countryside.

Native Restaurant whose diners not only support us with charitable donations but periodically enjoy produce from our farms – sown, grown and harvested by the children!

Here are just some of the people and organisations who are an inspiration:

Challenge event participants Sam Gatehouse and Sarah West who took on the phenomenal Deloitte Ride Across Britain, Lands End to John O’Groats Cycle Challenge. Riding 980 miles over 9 consecutive days Sam and Sarah raised more than £7,000 for Farms for City Children!

Our numerous long-standing Charitable Trust supporters who between them have enabled us to offer a week in wellies to hundreds of children from around the country in the past year.

Advent of Change whose innovative charity advent calendar supported a different charity each day of Advent including Farms for City Children.

Wyke Green Golf Club who chose us as their Captains and Lady Captains Charity and members raised the amazing sum of £14,553.95 throughout the year to support activities at Nethercott House.

Numerous schools including The Kings School Canterbury, Cornerstone MultiAcademy Trust, and Exeter Cathedral School whose pupils and PTA’s raised funds for us in all sorts of fun ways including a Ball, a Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas Carol Services.

Joules – we are incredibly honoured to be part of the Charitably Joules programme which supports us to play a 17

crucial role in the lives of children and the environment surrounding them. Throughout October the entire team at every Joules store participates in fundraising activities during their Charity Month. The Exeter store got into the farm theme by running a guess the weight of a giant pumpkin grown and harvested by children at Lower Treginnis farm! The Joules team efforts raised enough to pay for an incredible 360 farming sessions!

A charity partnership with News UK enabled 35 children from Charles Dickens School, London to enjoy a week of mud and magic by becoming farmers for a week.

In addition, their staff visited the school before, during and after their stay at the farm working with the children to create their very own Farm News, recording and reporting on their farm experiences.

With special thanks to our Patron HRH The Princess Royal for her commitment and generous support to our charity.

3,000

Farmers for a Week

63,000 Hearty meals

59,400 Fully immersive Farming sessions

NO ELECTRONIC DEVICES used by children during their week of mud and magic

Thank you to each and every supporter for helping us to make a difference and sow the seeds for a brighter future for the children who visit our farms.

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6 4 1

9

8 2

3 5

1

Muck & Magic Tea Towel Full colour tea towels made from 100% cotton featuring Quentin Blake’s Muck & Magic image.

7

10

6

Where my Wellies Take Me by Clare and Michael Morpurgo Follow Pippa into the beautiful countr yside as her day unfolds, with the wildlife, animals and people she encounters. Part poetr y anthology, part child’s scrapbook, this is a truly lavish project designed to instil a love of language in young children. £12.99

£5.00

2

Playing Cards Our playing cards feature some of our favourite Farms for City Children illustrations

by Quentin Blake. Cards are standard poker sized, professional grade, plastic coated and come in a laminated card box. Sold per pack. £6.00

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Eco Shopper Bag These eco-bags are made from natural materials and printed by hand on one side.

Help to reduce your carbon footprint by using these sustainable eco-bags instead of disposable plastic bags.Measures 42 x 37cms (excluding handles). £5.00

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Driftwood Keyrings All of these lovely key rings are individually handmade from authentic driftwood material.

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Notebook Set A black spiral sketchbook and autograph book, handtied with string

4

5

£3.00

The joyful feeling of vir tual giving – A Donkey Care Session Why not buy a Donkey Care Session for a child on the farm? The children take great pride in mucking-out, feeding, grooming and exercising Applejack, Ned, Marco, Loopy-Lou, Maria and Smiley. We will send a gift certificate in the post to you personalised with your/other name. £20.00 Boy Giant: Son of Gulliver by Michael Morpurgo (Hardback) **SIGNED** A stunning new stor y of hope, humanity and high-seas adventure for children and adults ever ywhere from Sir Michael Morpurgo. Illustrated by Michael Foreman. We are lucky to have a handful of signed copies which would make perfect gifts! £20.00

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£7.50

Handmade Bath bomb, Soap & Lip Balm sets Purple Gift Set - Lavender & Lime soap and bath bombs with a 10g blueberr y lip balm in a purple bag. Ivor y Gift Set - Thai Lemongrass & coconut bath bombs with a Goats milk, oatmeal & honey soap with a 10g lemon lip balm in an ivor y bag. Pink Gift Set Rose Geranium bath bombs and soap with vanilla lip balm in a pink bag. £6.00

10 Printed double oven glove with matching tea towel set White 100% cotton double oven gloves printed with illustrations depicting farm life

by Quentin Blake with matching tea towel. These beautifully illustrated items will add farmyard cheer to your kitchen. £10.00 We have a lot more gifts and goodies available from our online shop at farmsforcitychildren.org/shop

Support Us

SHOP AND DONATE

We rely on the generosity of people like you to help us change a child’s life and to sow the seeds for a brighter future. Many of the children who visit our farms may not know where their food comes from and have limited opportunities to explore the countryside. The impact of their stay is life-enhancing and sometimes lifechanging. Their horizons are broadened as they become more connected to the countryside, the environment and the source of the food they eat.

At this unprecedented time we are asking all of our supporters to consider making an exceptional one-off donation or set-up a regular donation to help us meet the significant fundraising shortfall caused by the pandemic so that the Charity’s future is secured and we will be able to enrich the lives of children facing disadvantage long into the future.

WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP – URGENT APPEAL

• Make a regular donation – A gift of £25 per month will help to subsidise a life-enhancing week of mud and magic for one inner-city child every year.

HOW YOU CAN HELP? • Make a one-off donation

Every year we need to raise over £1.2 million to enable over 3000 children to visit our farms for a week of mud and magic.

• Participate in a fundraising event or activity (see pages 15-16)

At this exceptional time and in the weeks ahead, while we are unable to host residential visits our staff will still be busy maintaining our three heritage farm buildings, feeding and caring for the many animals that the children work with and tending the gardens and fields that grow the food that is more important now than ever.

• Leave a gift in your Will – Why not do something truly incredible and let your memory live on through a gift in your Will that will bring smiles to children from disadvantaged backgrounds for years to come. Such a gift, would have a truly lasting impact.

We are so incredibly grateful to our wonderful supporters and thank you for your continuing and generous support.

We know that at the end of this long period of national confinement and isolation, Farms for City Children will have a crucial role to play in helping many inner city and urban children to recover from this troubling time.

If you would like to talk about supporting us in more detail, please call us on 01392 276678 or email fundraising@farmsforcitychildren.org www.farmsforcitychildren/Supportus

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Please return this order form with a cheque made payable to Farms for City Children to the address below. Freepost Plus RUBA-HTLU-GUBA Farms for City Children, Huxham Barns, Huxham, Exeter, Devon, EX5 4EJ Visit our online shop for our full range of products farmsforcitychildren.org/shop YOUR DETAILS Title ________ Name ______________________________________________________ Address _________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________ Postcode __________________ Email ___________________________________________________________________ I would like to hear from Farms for City Children by Post

Products

Email

Price

Not at all

Qty

Subtotal

1

Muck & Magic Tea Towel

£5.00

£

2

Playing Cards

£6.00

£

3

Driftwood Keyrings

£3.00

£

4

Donkey Care Session virtual gift (Please print name to go on Gift Certificate)

£20.00

£

5

Boy Giant: Son of Gulliver by Michael Morpurgo (Hardback) *SIGNED*

£20.00

£

6

Where my Wellies Take Me

by Clare and Michael Morpurgo

£12.99

£

7

Eco Shopper Bag

£5.00

£

8

Notebook Set

£7.50

£

9

Handmade Bath bomb, Soap & Lip Balm sets

£6.00

10

Printed double oven glove with tea towel set

£10.00

Postage and Packaging I would like to add a donation of:

£

£3.50

£3.50

£

£ Total

thank you for your support!

£

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING

YOUR DETAILS Title

Name

Address

Email

Postcode

Telephone I stayed at Nethercott House/Lower Treginnis/Wick Court in _________ (year)

YOUR DONATION SINGLE DONATION

REGULAR DONATION

I am making a donation of £ _________

I would like to make a regular donation.

(Please complete the details below)

I would like my donation to FFCC and any donations I make in the future or have made in the past four years to be treated as Gift Aid donations, allowing FFCC to reclaim from HMRC an additional 25p for every £1 donated.

I confirm that I am a UK taxpayer and I understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/ or Capital Gains Tax in the current year than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on my donations it is my responsibility to pay the difference.

I understand that I must contact FFCC if I wish to cancel this declaration, change my name or home address, or no longer pay sufficient tax on my income and/or Capital Gains.

STANDING ORDER Instruction to your bank or building society Name and full postal address of bank:

Signed

Signed

Date

Date

Name of account holder(s) Sort Code Account number Please pay Farms for City Children, NatWest Bank, Sort Code 53-50-28, Account number 08404445 The sum of £ _______ every month/quarter/year (please circle) until amended or cancelled, starting: Day _____ Month ________ Year _________

Please send me more information on: Leaving a gift in my Will Volunteering with fundraising/events Already remembered Farms for City Children in your Will? Thank you! Please let us know by ticking here I would like to hear from Farms for City Children by Post

Email

Not at all

If you would like to discuss further opportunities to support or get involved with Farms for City Children, please contact us on 01392 276678 or email us at fundraising@farmsforcitychildren.org Please complete the information and return it to us at Freepost Plus RUBA-HTLU-GUBA, Farms for City Children, Huxham Barns, Huxham, EX5 4EJ

Data protection - we take your data protection very seriously. Full information on how we keep and process your data securely can be found in our Privacy Policy at www.farmsforcitychildren.org/dataprotection.

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