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Opening Times: Monday to Friday 9.00am – 4.00pm (Viewing by appointment only)
Telephone:Gareth Ellis on 01886 833922 or Karen Johnson on 01886 833633
The Fold Care Farm - Giving People A Place To Grow
We would like to invite you to one of our OPEN DAYS:
Thursday 5th August 2010 at 10.30am for a tour at 11.00am
Saturday 14th August 2010 at 10.30am for a tour at 11.00am
This is our second season for The Fold Care Farm, which continues to grow in many ways. Please come, meet us and some of our volunteers, and have a tour of our facilities which include:
We will provide you with a buffet lunch at 12.30 prepared from produce grown on the farm and will be delighted to introduce you to the rest of The Fold which includes the ecoCafe, craft studios and WholeHealth complementary therapy centre. The day will finish between 1.30 and 2.00pm.
If you know someone who may benefit from enrolling at The Fold Care Farm then this will also be an opportunity to find out about our Taster Days which are on: Wednesday 25th and Tuesday 31st August and Wednesday 8th September, from 9.30am-3pm. (Application forms can be requested from the telephone numbers given above)
The Fold Care Farm provides meaningful work for people with particular support needs in a supported environment, growing fresh produce using organic methods. It is a ‘not for profit’ social enterprise.
The benefits for participants are huge and include: RSVP to Karen Johnson on 01886 833 633 or carefarm@thefold.org.uk
Please come to the Open Days via The Care Farm Entrance which is about 60m East of The Fold’s main entrance (towards Worcester) on the A4103 The Fold Care Farm grows produce using natural methods for The Fold ecoCafe and restaurant as well as plants to be sold at the Fold. It is a supportive social enterprise where people from a wide range of backgrounds can undertake meaningful work in an environment which nurtures a sense of self esteem. Care farming is the provision of care combined with meaningful work, it can also be called ecotherapy. It is carried out on farms, woodlands and in market gardens with those who are often most vulnerable and excluded by society. It is an innovation in health and social care that provides an excellent opportunity for participants to reconnect with themselves, nature, each other and worthwhile work. Many participants on care farms experience improvements to their physical, mental and spiritual health and well-being. Participants connect with a healthy daily structure and meaningful work in a natural environment - gaining social, educational and training benefits. For more information about care farming across the country take a look at the National Care Farming Initiative's website. We consider our participants to be individuals with a wide and diverse range of abilities, not as people labelled with societies’ stigmas. We aim to grow a sense of self-esteem using achievable but appropriately challenging tasks. Participants are able to work either on a one-to-one basis or in a team, subject to their needs and the skills they need to develop. The welcoming and informal learning environment plus the community atmosphere of The Fold nurtures a sense of belonging to the greater whole encouraging integration with the wider environment. This together with learning new skills whilst working alongside other people helps to promote the benefits of work and social reintegration in practice. It’s good to have something to get you outside. Time flies whilst working in the garden. Every day there is something different worth coming along to. The Fold Garden is a fun and enjoyable way to learn skills and make friends in a healthy way. The rewarding activities and educational experience of being involved in growing food and providing it to the kitchen is a way to begin a lifestyle change on the way to recovery. The Fold was once the heart of a fruit, hop and livestock farm, which diversified into growing plants. The Care Farm utilises the original propagation houses of the nursery, which provides ideal facilities for vocational skills including the growing of plants and vegetables in pots and in the ground. Jobs include taking cuttings and sowing seeds, weeding, watering and harvesting as well as integrated pest management and the principles of organic husbandry. There will be additional opportunities for working with animals and learning green wood-working skills. The sense of job satisfaction which comes from contributing collaboratively and seeing the process through can help a person in getting back into employment. The Fold Care Farm is more than just a place to learn work skills – it is about reintegrating the processes of work into wider life. At The Fold Care Farm participants feel like they are seeing the whole of a work process – in our case from soil to table, and back again. From sewing the seeds, to harvesting the produce, to delivery to the kitchens. Where the produce is turned into healthy & nutritious meals that are served not only to the ecoCafe’s customers but also the Care Farm participants.The Fold Care Farm
What Is Care Farming?
What can it offer?
Personal Development
Great Potential, You and Us
