News from the Farm Feb 2015

New volunteer oppotunites.

An important part of what we do is educating and involving people in growing food. We have several opportunity to spread this to a wider audience: home educated kids, young offenders and people with learning difficulties and mental health issues. Some groups would integrate with our weekly Wednesday work morning and some would need their own slot. The only firm plan at moment is to host a monthly session for home educated children but we’ll keep you posted on the developments of any further developments.

Funding Bid.

We are in the early stages of applying for Unltd’s ‘Build It’ fund which provides living expenses

for social entrepreneurs who want to scale up their enterprise. We must demonstrate a positive ‘social impact’ which we do by providing enjoyable, therapeutic and educational volunteering opportunities.

Applying for grants is a competitive business but we do tick the boxes so we’re going to give it a go.

Work Placements.

Marina from the Apricot Centre is applying to the DWP to run a joint scheme in conjunction with Bennison Farm and Essex Wildlife Trust which would provide work placements and training for 10-12 people. We would be paid for our time in addition to the extra help. We hope this succeeds as it is a great opportunity for all involved.