THE ROLE UK AGRICULTURE CAN PLAY IN DELIVERING SOCIAL CARE ROBIN ASQUITH 2016 NUFFIELD SCHOLAR Robin Asquith (center) with Social Farmers in Italy
Before my Nuffield Scholarship I was in a management position in a small charity. My role involved running the hill farm which had highland cattle, pigs and poultry. The farm has a twist though, we supported up to twelve individuals with learning and mental disabilities on the farm and they worked alongside us. By giving people an opportunity to work on the farm, something many of them had never had before, is hugely rewarding; not only for myself, but for them too. It gives purpose, direction and structure to people’s lives. I applied for a Nuffield Scholarship as I hadn’t travelled far, but also because I wanted to learn how other people did what we did. I had only recently heard the term ‘Social Farming’ and it was a lot more common overseas than in the UK. It got me wondering why this was, and how we could improve things in the UK? Nuffield gave me the confidence to grow and expand my horizons and my knowledge base. But it was initial personal misfortune which really steered the course of my Nuffield journey. On the first day of the Pre-CSC Briefing induction to Nuffield, sat in the imposing Savills Board Room in central London and being told we were the future of agriculture, I sat with a growing and increasingly overwhelming sense of obligation and pressure. A sense which later that day led me to an NHS Accident & Emergency Department. So, I missed the Contemporary Scholars’ Conference in Ireland. I appeared written off. But, through sheer determination not to quit, I continued and completed my travels. It is now, as I sit reflecting on the experience, that I realise it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The travel gave me confidence, I learnt to cope with being in uncomfortable positions. I lost my fear of flying, and I became comfortable far away from my normal routine. That’s what Nuffield gave to me - the confidence that I could do anything if I put my mind to it. I was no longer the shy lad from Yorkshire who did the ‘hippy’ farming. I was a strong minded and capable young chap who could set about and achieve anything he wanted. Without this new confidence I probably wouldn’t be sat here writing this – nor would I have subsequently travelled to Kenya to do voluntary work in remote farming communities.
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Through the Nuffield journey I changed jobs, from one in a very small rural charity to a role in a large national charity leading a strategy change over several geographically spread sites. I’m pleased to say the charity now has five active and flourishing social farms and gardens, providing structured and person-centred learning opportunities to adults living with disabilities. I now lead our estates team which couples my love of agriculture with my interest in buildings and their environment. I have used my experience to help expand the sector nationally. I was a trustee of Care Farming UK and helped steer the charity through a merger to form a new organisation, Social Farms & Gardens. The charity was able to grow and, thereby, expand the social farm sector through successful funding; we did have 200 social farms in the UK, this now stands closer to 300. Outside of Nuffield my life is as busy as ever. My wife and I have developed our own business, expanding our traditional farm fresh turkey enterprise into a more Christmas focused enterprise, expanding our range and improving our customer experience. I am the proud father of two and just embarking on one of my biggest challenges – building the family home! Nuffield gave me the confidence to take a few risks, buying some land without planning permission and selling the family home to do so was one of those! Eighteen months later we are to embark on building an ‘eco home’. Once built this will enable me to follow my lifelong dream of starting our own small scale soft fruit enterprise.
