Welcome
With much uncertaintly still around, it's lovely for everyone to be enjoying some sunshine this week. Get your hats and suncream out and the ice cream in and make the most of it after a pretty miserable spring!
With 'freedom day' nearly upon us and so much in the news and social media about what that means for us, it is worth checking out the guidelines on the Government's Covid-19 support pages.
It's also worth a mention that the 19th - 23rd July is farm safety week. While we often think of farm safety in the context of vulnerable groups visiting our sites (see our Code of Practice for help and support with this), it's so important to remember the wider safety risks for care farmers themselves. This isn't simply about physical safety, support for our own mental health is more important than ever now in the aftermath of Covid-19.
Follow #FarmSafetyWeek on Twitter and remember there is help out there via organisations like RABI.
News
Last month we enjoyed hearing from Rob Gayler at Lambourne End on how care farming can be used to deliver educational services. There were lots of questions and we strayed into the interesting territory of OFSTED visits and the risks of being seen as running as an illegal school. Rob was very helpful regarding this, but from feedback from many of you it is obviously a subject of concern and perhaps something we could pick up in a themed meeting. Let us know if this would be useful. If you missed the webinar, don't worry, as all our webinars are recorded and available to watch on our YouTube channel for free.
More films
If you've been following us for a while you'll have seen the fabulous films that Jones Millbank have produced on our behalf over the course of the last 12 months. We're making the most of the lovely weather and working with them again to produce three more films later in the year - this time some more personal stories from people who have spent time on a care farm and also a film specifically looking at how older people can benefit from care farming.
If you've missed the original films, they can be seen either on our YouTube channel or in our care farming knowledge base which we are gradually developing as a one-stop-shop for all resources related to care farming and green care.
Exploring Green Care & Care Farming
For those of you interested in some of the wider aspects of green care and care farming, you might like to follow Joy O'Neill's blog as she completes her Churchill Fellowship, researching the development of the sector and also how care farming looks in other parts of the world. Joy's work follows on from Deborah Evans's (nee Wilcox) Nuffield Scholarship in 2007 and Robin Asquith's in 2017 who both looked at farming and care across Europe. It is reassuring to see that this is a growing area of interest and please let us know of any research work you are undertaking - we always like to share it.
Don't delay, complete the Annual Survey today!
We make no apologies for pestering and reminding about this - it's such an important part of our work and helps everyone understand the scale and development of our sector. If you haven't yet filled it out, please find some time to do it.
It doesn't matter what stage of development you're at, even if you're just thinking of starting up there is a section for you. And best of all, you'll get entered into a free prize draw for just 10 minutes of your time.
The more care farms (and green care providers) that participate in this survey, the more accurate our data and the more credibility we have to represent your needs to policy makers and funders. If you're interested in seeing the results of the last survey you can find the report here.
So if you run a care farm or are thinking of setting one up, then please complete the survey here.
Online Networking
Our next online networking meeting will take place on 28th July at 2pm. If you've never joined us before, feel free to pop in and say hello, connect with others around the country and ask questions to the GCF team. We'll do our best to answer! These meetings are open to all across the country and are an opportunity to see a friendly face and talk about all things care farming related, regardless of where you are based or what stage you are at. Book here.
See all our events
Care Farming Code of Practice
We are continuing to run our GCF Code Q & A Online sessions – these are an opportunity for anyone who has started their care farming Code of Practice application process to ask questions to enable them to complete their application form. They are run by a Code Assessor and GCF staff member – our most recent session (June 2021) was led by Noelle Wilson, Code Assessor. The next session will be led by Keily Elvin of Elm Tree Farm (a Brandon Trust enterprise) on Wed 8th September and is bookable through this page.
If you're interested in the Code of Practice or would like support to go through it, click here for more information.
Upcoming Training
17th September - 1st October 2021 Developing Alternative Provision on care farms - Find out how care farming can be provided to help meet the needs of young people on Alternative Provision.
10th September - 24th September 2021 Care farming for Learning Disability and Autism Spectrum Disorders - Learn how care farming can be provided to help meet the needs of people with a learning disability or autism spectrum disorder.
For full details of all our training and to book, visit our Training webpages.
Have you been waiting for a CEVAS course to take place? The OCN accredited, therapeutic route training now has lots of dates available. Follow the link for more details and to sign-up online
If you are looking for expert training to help you offer educational or care farming visits, look no further! New course dates are now available.
We know there is a huge demand for training via ATF’s highly successful CEVAS course for those wishing to run educational or therapeutic visits. All courses can now be booked here.
Stay safe everyone and keep in touch with us. We love to hear from you! You can send general enquiries to [email protected] or you can contact Debbie and Rachel on [email protected].
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