Virtual Fellowships, Sustainable Dyes and Growing Care Farming

Since the start of the pandemic new online events, courses and conferences seem to have sprung up everywhere and given us opportunities to meet up virtually, share information and practices and learn new things. One of the benefits has been the opportunity to participate in sessions in other parts of the country or even the wider world that you wouldn't normally be able to attend.

This week was one such week and on Thursday I attended three completely different events, spending a virtual breakfast in Australia, mid-morning in Cornwall and the afternoon in Yorkshire, Suffolk and Leicestershire!

Regular readers of my blog will be aware that since being awarded my Churchill Fellowship I've been unable to travel to Europe due to the travel restrictions in place as a result of COVID. So when I received an invitation from Winston Churchill Trust Australia to an event on Virtual Fellowships I wanted to know more. Jackie Charles 2019 Fellow gave an inspirational talk on how, after having her planned travel to Singapore, Canada, USA and the UK cancelled at the last minute, she went back to the drawing board and decided to pioneer Virtual Fellowships. She gave plenty of food for thought and I look forward to hearing more from her over the coming months.

Mid-morning and in the words of Monty Python "And now for something completely different" a practical workshop in Sustainable Dyeing. Now I'm the first to admit that I know very little about natural dyes, so when the invitation to the workshop landed in my inbox I was intrigued to find out more.  The University of Exeter 'Circular Textiles' initiative meets once a month and offers events that champion textiles and support sustainable and product development across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 

The March Workshop in Sustainable Dyeing with Caroline Bawn gave an overview of the history of dyes before demonstrating two methods of dyeing. A week before the event a goodie box arrived in the post, thanks to Gorgeous Yarns Helston, containing all the ingredients needed to allow me join in with dyeing yarns at home. If you are interested in future events then you might want to contact  Circular Textiles directly.

For the last event of the day I joined the Social Farms and Gardens Growing Care Farm Conference 2021. This year the Conference looked at progress made so far with increasing the number of care farms in the UK as well as the impacts of COVID on the work going forwards. While we may not know yet quite what 2021 will hold, it was good to hear that strategies are being developed to support care farmers both in person or online.

The Buckinghamshire Food Partnership

It's hard to believe that it was way back in May 2020 when I first became involved in the Buckingham Food Partnership, something which I wrote about in one of my early blogs. Those of you who read that article may remember that the food charity Sustain asked the question - Is it time for a Buckinghamshire Food Partnership? and Hannah Fenton was appointed as the Buckinghamshire Food Coordinator with the aim of setting up a scoping project to investigate the level of interest and potential commitment to establishing such a county-wide food partnership.

It's been a year since the project began and the results so far have been very positive. So much so, that some of the individuals who have been involved over the last few months have gone on to form a steering group and begun the process of incorporating the food partnership as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.

I am delighted to be one of the cross-sector steering group members who are managing the work of the Buckinghamshire Food Partnership over the next few months, while trustees are being appointed. You can find more information on applying to be a trustee of this new food focused charity through Sustain's website.

I am looking forward to 'getting my teeth' (pardon the pun!) into our six key work strands, which are: Food Governance and Strategy, Good Food Movement, Healthy Food for All, Sustainable Food Economy, Catering and Procurement and Food for the Planet. I shall update you all as we go along and also describe where the potential Food Hub/Cooperative, also written about in an earlier blog, may fit within our work strands. 

Care Farming at Countryways

I first met Wendy Gray in April 2019. Wendy is the Founder of Countryways Care Farm and she and her husband are co-leaders of the care farm which sits within her family-owned 250 acre working farm in the Chilterns.

Wendy was looking for potential volunteers with an educational background and I jumped at the chance to join her band of helpers for a 2 year period. As that time is now coming to a close and I will soon be stepping down from Countryways am concentrating on pushing forward with the Buckinghamshire Food Partnership Project, I have been reflecting on everything I've learned from my engagement with them over the last two years.

There is no substitute for getting involved with the strategic or operational elements of an organisation in allowing a person to gaining an understanding of their work. I was very grateful for this opportunity because being part of Countryways has really helped me understand the ins and outs of grass roots care farming. I've also been fortunate enough to visit many other green care gardens and farms and its been fascinating to see the similarities and indeed the differences in the way each organisation works.

I think my biggest 'takeaway' from the last two years has been the authenticity of placing children and young people on working farms and how that gives them all three of the key care farming elements: social interaction, purposeful work and being outdoors. However, in being authentic I often wonder if that excludes younger children from taking part? Working farms can be potentially dangerous places to be due to the nature of the job and Health and safety procedures must be robust to keep everyone safe.

Before joining Countryways I was curious as to why many farms had age limits for the children visiting the farm but now I can see it from the perspective of farms who specify certain age limits. Having trained in Early Childhood Development and spent many years working with young children I ask myself - Is it reasonable to expect younger children to listen to adults and follow safety guidelines at all times? Can younger children carry out purposeful work, in the context of care farming? Every child is different and some may well be able to take part with appropriate adult support but others may find that very challenging. So for now, many farms will only focus on giving older children and young people this valuable experience, something they not have been able to engage with under their usual daily lives.

So thank you Wendy, and I wish you and Countryways every success in the years ahead. 

Women in Food and Farming

Monday 8th March 2021 is International Women's Day and I am delighted to be a panellist and speaker at the Feedback Global 'Cultivating Conversations' event. I'm looking forward to sharing my perspectives on care farming and green care and how that may differ from traditional perspectives on food and farming. 

In the spirit of International Women's Day, I'd like to recognise a handful of my colleagues whose work has shaped my own research over the past year since I was awarded my Churchill Fellowship. 

Judy Brewer is described in her home country of Australia as a farmer, educator and activist. We met 'virtually' through our respective Churchill Fellowship and Australian Churchill Fellowship in early 2020. Judy is a speaker and writer on neuro diverse families and is creating a care farm within her working farm to support autistic adults with acute anxiety. 

I met Hannah Fenton in April 2020 through the Sustain and Rothschild Foundation Buckinghamshire Food Partnership Scoping Project. It's been a privilege to be involved in the Food Summit and the Partnership Working Group and to see the early ideas transformed into six key work streams and the incorporation of the food partnership as a charity. 

Liz Everard has a background in mental health nursing and was awarded a Hocking Fellowship in 2019. She is in the process of setting up an innovative therapeutic farm in Tasmania which will offer a new model of treatment and support for adults with complex mental health needs. Despite being unable to travel for her fellowship due to the pandemic, Liz is pushing ahead with her charity. 

Wendy Gray is the founder of Countryways based at Road Farm in Buckinghamshire. Wendy set up this community interest company five years ago with the aim of supporting teenagers and adults through care farming. Its been an education to be involved as a volunteer since 2019 and to see care farming at its grass roots level. 

And finally a figure from history, Florence Nightingale.  In many ways she was ahead of her time in her thinking about what could promote and sustain health. She understood how nutritious food, the outdoors, fresh air and sunlight could impact positively on a person's health. She also believed that spending time with a companion animal could help speed a person's recovery.  

School Farms

The focus for this week's blog is 'School Farms'. School farms offer facilities within a school grounds  to students with an interest in food, farming and horticulture. Resources available to students may include land for growing, land for keeping livestock, poly tunnels, greenhouses, apiaries and access to farm machinery.

School farms, like a number of the other topics this blog has explored, have experienced an ebb and flow in popularity in the UK since the early 1900's. In 1912 there were some 2500 school farms or gardens but this declined over the decades leading to a sharp decline in the 1980's. From the early 2000's the interest was rekindled and The Schools Farm Network estimates that there are now more than 120 school farms across the UK.

But what are the benefits for students in engaging with a school farm? 

School farms can:

• Boost learning and engagement in rural studies, ecology, biodiversity, food standards and other topics such as health and safety.
• Support learning of curriculum subjects such as science and geography. 
• Teach practical skills and encourage students to take responsibility for certain animals or tasks. 
• Introduce the students to entrepreneurial routes into food and farming.
• Promote inclusivity through tasks that can be differentiated to support students with a range of learning needs.
• Offer a stepping stone to agricultural college or university.

If you would like to know more about school farms you might be interested in the School Farms Network annual conference, this year online, in July 2021 School Farms Annual Conference 2021.