Welcome to the March update from Growing Care Farming 

Greetings from the Growing Care Farming team

We are all living through an unprecedented situation.  As the COVID-19 outbreak unfolds, the UK Government’s approach, advice and support is changing with breath taking speed. Making the right decisions for our care farms and for our families relies on having good access to relevant information.  Social Farms & Gardens continues to monitor Government guidance and you can find comprehensive information on our webpages highlighting useful websites and resources. We will also be keeping you updated through both our website and our Twitter feed with how some of our members are dealing with shut downs due to the coronavirus - from live-streaming events and farm updates on social media to assisting in supply of local food.

For our part, GCF will aim to deliver training and networking online wherever possible and producing resources to share via our website, video, webinars and podcasts – all accessible at the click of a button.  We are also speaking to care farmers across the country and ensuring that their concerns and issues are being passed on.  Rest assured, we will continue to represent you and highlight your sector throughout this period.

This is obviously a worrying time for care farms that have had to close their doors.  Not only are they worried about the vulnerable people they support, there are deep-seated concerns about survival, given the tight margins so many have been forced to operate under from cash-strapped commissioners.  GrantsOnline is publishing details of a number of Community Foundations and other organisations which have launched funding programmes to assist local organisations in responding to the challenges of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

It is important to keep your supporters, commissioners and clients regularly informed during this period.  It is clear that while many groups will be unable to attend, the farms still operate – animals still need looking after and essential maintenance still needs to take place. Taking a common-sense approach to managing staff and volunteers needed to come on to site and undertake this work is important and NCVO have published some useful information on people volunteering at your premises.

There are plenty of interesting and innovative ways to stay connected and some of our care farms are taking full advantage of modern technology to keep in touch.  Pathways Care Farm in Suffolk is uploading some lovely films to YouTube to ensure that their service users feel supported and connected to the farm during isolation.  Poppies Care Farm Church Farm Ardeley Elm Tree Care Farm and several others are doing something similar on Facebook and Lambourne End has launched a JustGiving appeal to raise funds to feed the animals during the period of closure. 

These are just a few examples of farms which have been in touch with us - please keep us posted with what you are doing and we will share it through our Twitter account to help you reach more people.

Although many care farms have closed their doors to clients, some care farms have been asked to remain open.  We’ve been communicating with some that continue to provide services, for example, for vulnerable children and the children of key workers.  Some have been asked to continue operating to support people with learning disabilities.  In other parts of the country however, people with learning disabilities have been told not to attend the farms, although the Local Authority continues to honour the payment for places.  Unfortunately for others, services have been pulled and ongoing payments cancelled.  

What is happening on your farm?  Please email [email protected] and let us know.

For all of us, the immediate future remains uncertain but the message we are getting loud and clear is that we all need to work together during these times.  Please keep in touch with us and let us know what you are doing.

Stay safe and remember what we can all achieve when we come together – even if that is remotely!

Training and Resources

We continue to update both the Growing Care Farming pages and, as highlighted above, the Social Farms & Gardens website.  GCF now has some useful films and resources, as well as information about events and training opportunities.  Obviously all of our face to face training is suspended for the time being, but you will soon be able to access our online courses - 'Principles of Care Farming' and 'Starting with Care Farming'.  There are also links on these pages to other organisations offering training which may be of interest to you.

We piloted the first round of face to face training in February and March.  This training, developed in partnership with Thrive, covers four different areas: 

• Care farming and mental health
• Care farming for Learning Disability and Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Developing Alternative Provision on care farms
• Nurturing young people with anxiety and depression through care farming

These pilot courses were well-supported, although sadly the final Shropshire and Bristol dates had to be cancelled due to COVID-19.  It is unlikely that we will be able to run further face-to-face sessions until the autumn, but we will be exploring whether elements of them can be run online.  

Regional Engagement

Work in Yorkshire & Humberside continued through the winter, with a well attended funding workshop at Heeley City Farm in Sheffield and our first Awareness Event, which took place in Thirsk (fortunately just before the restrictions came into place).  Both events were very informative and attended by a range of people not just from the Y&H region, but much further afield.  We will be looking to run more online webinars over this period, but please rest assured that we will be running events in your area in due course.  Growing Care Farming covers the nine regions of England and we will be recruiting more Regional Support Officers to support this work in due course.

Our plans had been to launch in the North East in May, with our next 'Going Live' event and then the North West in June.  It seems that COVID-19 has other plans for us and it now seems likely that these events will need to be moved to September or, perhaps, into a different 'virtual' format.  Sarah Marrison, our northern Regional Support Officer will keep you updated on this.

Whatever course the next few months take, please be assured that we will continue to advocate on your behalf, develop resources and look at ways to support the care farming sector.  The Growing Care Farming team (and wider Social Farms & Gardens staff) are now all working from home in line with Government guidelines but we are all available by email. 
 

You can send general enquiries to [email protected] or you can contact Debbie and Rachel on [email protected]