August and the school holidays can traditionally be a quieter time for many care farms.

If you're thinking ahead to admin and paperwork before September, our Code of Practice is here to help. Many care farmers find this a useful ‘one-stop shop’ to work through and get policies and paperwork up to date and in place. 

Care farming events and training take a summer break this month, but there's still a chance to join the Social Farms & Gardens member webinar on the 18th August. 

Our events and training will be back in September, so don't forget to book your place on our network meetings and webinars.

Wishing you a safe and happy summer!

Care farming for young people was in the national spotlight last month when Future Roots and founder Julie Plumley featured on the BBC's Countryfile programme. 

The programme showed how care farms can help young people who struggle in school by offering practical ways to learn. It highlighted how care farming builds skills, confidence and wellbeing, and can even be the start of a farming career for some. You can catch up on the programme from the 18th of July via the BBC iPlayer at about 10 minutes in. 

If you'd like to find out more about care farming for education please visit our website. 

Congratulations to our colleague Dr Rachel Bragg who was recently recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours with an OBE for services to academia and green care.

Care Farming Development Manager Rachel was previously a researcher at the University of Essex and led some of the early research into care farming in the UK. She has also been instrumental in pulling together much of what we know about the scale and scope of the care farming sector in the UK. Rachel's work and insight has been key in establishing our care farming research resources. 

Congratulations also to Nikki Markham of Battling-On for her MBE for services to communities in the South West of England.

Battling-On was established to support members of the Armed Forces who were struggling to make the transition from military to civilian life. Now the organisation supports both veterans and young people. We love their work at Merryhue Farm in Cornwall and we’re sure many of you will identify with their ethos. 

This weekend is your last chance to add your voice to our annual care farming and green care survey. 

What you tell us really matters because it builds a picture of care farming and green care across the UK. The more data we have, the more powerful and credible our work - we want to make sure you're heard by policy makers and funders.

We've had a great response so far and you can still take part until the end of this weekend (15th August). As a thank you for a few minutes of your time, you'll be entered into a free prize draw too. 

Well done to The HangOut, the latest green care organisation to achieve our Code of Practice mark. 

The HangOut, based in Carmarthenshire, is a Welsh hub for the charity TheHorseCourse, an equine assisted interventions centre in Weymouth. The HangOut deliver intensive equine interventions for young people who are suffering from anxiety or other mental health issues with an increased risk of social isolation.

Completing the Code of Practice means that an organisation meets the standards of commissioners, referral agencies and service users. 

Code of Practice support

If you've started an application form for the Code of Practice and need a bit of help, we've got you covered. Our Code Q&A sessions mean you can get personal advice from an expert code assessor and the Growing Care Farming team.

The next session will be led by Keily Elvin of Brandon Trust Enterprise Elm Tree Farm on the 8th September.