Jamie's Farm

Jamie’s Farm acts as a catalyst for change, enabling disadvantaged young people to thrive academically, socially and emotionally. We do this through a unique residential experience and rigorous follow-up programme, combining ‘family, farming and therapy'. To date, we have worked with over 2,750 young people and demonstrated significant improvements in self-esteem, engagement and behaviour, in addition to softer skills such as resilience, grit and motivation. We are also having a positive impact on the way educational professionals work with young people displaying challenging behaviour in schools, and disseminating our wider methodology to impact children who have never even visited the farm. During their stay, children are involved with the daily running of our working livestock farms (in Wiltshire and Herefordshire), enjoying seasonal activities from lambing to hay making, in addition to helping with the preparation of meals, gardening, carpentry, log chopping, horse care, art and participating in a daily walk. The week is also punctuated by 1:1 and group sessions. We focus on providing young people with real jobs with tangible outcomes which are specifically designed to develop personal character qualities, in addition to giving children time and space to reflect, renew and determine a new path for themselves. We do this by creating a calm and nurturing environment where young people feel respected, and are given opportunities to display their talents and show responsibility. Furthermore, our team of experienced staff create a loving, holding framework – modelled on a family system – that allows young people to trust they can succeed. We are at an exciting stage in our journey: exploring innovative and cost effective options to expand further and impact even more vulnerable young people.