So what is Handley Care Farm ?
Over the last few years, all of us at Handley Farm have witnessed the incredible impact that being in the presence of the goats has had on two young children with special educational needs.
Handley Farm has informally become a haven for a number of teenagers and adults with various needs at different times in their lives over the last 10 years. As such we have changed our plan and vision, to enable other folk in the community to gain from this special environment, resulting in the development of Handley Care Farm CIC (registered in April 2024 – 15544076).
The directors appointed to the management committee of Handley Care Farm are Tony Laven, Sue Cowan and Sally Wood, all who know from first-hand experience that the positive impact of this venture, on the Derbyshire community is ten-fold and we are so excited to see where this takes us over the coming year.
We are a not-for-profit organisation, upholding all legal requirements of Companies House as such. In this first year particularly, we rely heavily on donations, and the volunteer time from our “Friends of Handley Farm” and we have a business plan to be sustainable by the end of 2025. So far we have been the beneficiary of several different donations for which we are incredibely grateful, these include:
…and many other very kind locals donators !
Thank you also to Rolls-Royce® for supporting through community team building volunteering events…
Handley Care Farm is also proud to have gained accreditation for running a safe organisation respecting animals and our land; our Farm Education Lead is also undertaking their CEVAS therapeutic education certification. Keeping visitors who may be vulnerable, safe on a working farm is extremely important to us; see our risk assessment and safeguarding policy for further details (other policies available on request).
Many of you may already know Tony and Sue from The Bull Shed, or Grumpy Farmer Goats Cheese….. But who is Sally ?
Sally
Always smily with a cup of tea !
“I have been coming to Handley Farm with my daughter every Sunday for the last 7 years !!”
We first heard about Handley Farm through my son attending a forest school session in the summer holidays and at the time I thought – wow, Lucy would love this, however my daughter although old enough to attend, due to various learning disabilities that she has (including ADHD, ASD and demand avoidant traits), wouldn’t have been appropriate to attend without my supervision at the time. After discussing with the forest school leader, we agreed to try it with me tagging along trying not to cramp her style !…however whilst the rest of the forest school group were happy to move on through the goat field on to the stream, my Lucy was not ! – she immediately felt at-one with the calmly roaming goats, as did they with her.
And from then our regular visits to the farm began, but under the supervision and support of Sue. Fast forward 7years and having taken a sabbatical from a role as Matron of sepsis and deteriorating patients in the NHS for my own wellbeing, I have decided to now take up a position formally to lead the progression of the Care Farm. I feel so strongly about the value added to young people’s lives by being in the presence of the goat (and human!) herd of Handley Farm and I look forward to watching many others benefit from this too.
In the meantime, Lucy has firmly become one of the family at Handley Farm and no week passes without her visiting the farm for a cheeky goat cuddle.
The Care Farm has four main arms to it…
Care Farm Placements
A place for everyone…
Care Farm placements are opportunities for children and young adults to be invested in and respected to support their learning in a therapeutic environement of Handley Farm. We work on a 1:1 basis either as part of their formal EHCP, utilising their PIP funds, EOTAS or private self-funding, with the young person depending on their needs and objectives, with a core focus on building confidence, purpose and a strong sense of belonging.
Everybody’s needs are different. The best way to understand what a care farm placement at Handley Farm can offer, and whether you feel it would be the right place is to hear about it in person. We would recommend a phonecall with Sally in the first instance or a visit in person – with the young person (or without if you feel that would be more appropriate). Just send us a message by clicking here !
We realise how any new place, can be exciting, daunting, anxiety-provoking and overall an overwhelming experience for some. Thanks to support from the Titan’s Childrens Trust, we have built a sensory “Balance Zone” within the goat barn to provide a safe calming space where any visitors with sensory/additional needs could choose to access if they felt the need to self-regulate.
Prices may vary depending on information gathered during referral in order to meet the needs of the individual. We also consider feasibility of group care farm sessions when clients needs, preference, objectives may align.
Example Full Day
6 hours
£110
Example Half Day
3.5 hours
£60
Love sticks forever…
Fin living his best life in the garden
Lucy making sure that the goats are smart
The G.O.A.T Summer
Educational Visits
School visits bringing farming and the meaning of “field-to-fork” to life…
Handley Farm offers the perfect opportunity for pupils to embrace the outdoors and enrich their knowledge of life on a farm, learning about animals and more in the beautiful surroundings of Amber Valley in Derbyshire.
A visit to Handley Farm will allow pupils to better understand the ways in which farms operate, but there are many additional topics and subjects that you can build upon to make the most of your time. Some of the more popular topics that schools choose to study while visiting a farm include the life cycles of plants and animals, the farm through the seasons, our relationship with the foods we eat, and food miles ranging to the recent public farmers protests at Parliament and incorporating maths eg pie charts but in a rural setting. We aim to be inclusive and accessible for individuals with additional needs, health conditions or disabilities.
Please let us know when you book so we can ensure that we can meet visitors’ individual needs and consider tailoring our approach accordingly (it remains the school’s responsibility to provide sufficient staffing TA for the number of and needs of the children). We have a disability toilet on site that is in the process of being built. We have available The Bull Shed restaurant on site which is part of Handley Farm Ltd to leave bags, to borrow wellies as required/desired for the duration of the visit and to return for packed lunches if that is desired/provided by the school before or after the visit.
Our prices for a group, effective from 1st September 2024 !
Groups larger than 12 people will cost more due to the need to provide an additional member of farm staff to supervise – please contact us to discuss further. We can also arrange a full day of activities as desired and for a larger group, but the price will need to be amended accordingly following initial enquiry.
2Hour Group*
12 people max
£110
3Hour Group
12 people max
£145
*Please ask, to see if your 2 hour visit can qualify for a FREE visit. Each year we have a limited number of FREE 2 Hour School Visits available for under 16s. Our FREE 2 Hour School Visits are supported through Natural England’s Countryside Stewardship Scheme – Mid Tier. This enables and encourages access for children to experience aspects of farm life, animal care and support understanding of “field-to-fork”. More information on Natural England’s work can found here. (Some kind local donations also fund a small number of free visits).
Some good souvenirs…
Cloudy but smily day
Washing the hands after the visit
Paul showing the bee’s house
Dirty hands (and finding worms)
= happy faces
Behind the scenes – talking enrichment
Sally in action…
Community Garden
Disconnect to re-connect…
This is in its early phases, having developed the large garden on site last year to produce veg boxes, now we are bringing the garden under our remit of the care farm, to provide a supported haven to share and learn gardening skills from each other. This will provide an opportunity initially once a week, to meet other folk, spend a few hours outside in the fresh air with the wonderful rolling hill Derbyshire views, have a cuppa and reap the benefits when harvest time comes.
Contact for more details on this if interested – we aim to be up and running with this second week of March 2025.
The Louvre of gardening…
Seed, friends and fun
Mouth watering
Shhhhh, They’re growing…
Self-directed Team Building
A bowl of fresh air…
Many companies have realised the benefit of taking teams out of the office to take part in different activities which involve working together and what better place to do this than at Handley Care Farm ! We do not offer expertise in delivering formal “team building” however what we do provide an incredible setting for teams to recharge outside the office, refreshing folk. What we have done with two separate company visits, is to provide some goat-related activities at the start– eg helping herding and milking which seems to be a great way to break down barriers! We then can provide a task to be completed – usually related to the community garden, the orchards or maintenance of an aspect used by the care farm for example the sensory Balance zone, or what will be our new educational classroom which should be in place by the end of March 2025. Activities will not directly be linked to the care farm beneficiaries due to safeguarding.
For any companies wishing to do this, we also offer the Bull Shed venue with tea/coffee facilities and a bacon-butty or soup style lunch free of charge if the team building includes the team supporting with work.
If the team would like to utilise the Bull Shed venue for example in the afternoon to deliver their own added session “out of the office”, that is feasible to organise, but would incur a small charge.
Getting the team together out of the office…
Rewarding November Orchard progress
Revelling in the blue skies!
Preparing for outdoor farm classroom base
Health & safety briefing in Bull Shed
Building a work bench
The Belper Community Toolshed…