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 also provided a haven for a number of teenagers and adults with various needs at different times in their lives, as they join in with farm life. As such we are keen to consider opportunities to enable other folk in the community to gain from this special environment, resulting in the creating of Handley Care Farm CIC.
The care farm is in its early stages and as you can imagine there is some set-up required, but we are excited to have already been approached by a school to consider us as an ‘alternative provision’ for any student who they feel would benefit from being here. There are also several folk with additional needs who receive personal budgets or who have an EHCP with funds, but who are unable to have their needs met in a school environment.
The directors appointed to the management committee of Handley Care Farm 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.
More news coming soon!
“My daughter Lucy is 12 years old. She has autism, ADHD and development delay. From day one, Lucy has been treated with respect and seen as an individual in her own right at Handley Farm. Lucy’s desire to be with animals has been embraced here allowing her to have supervised independence in a way that is rare to find. As a result Lucy has grown in the respect that she has for animals. She has been given an incredible opportunity to gain greater understanding of the goats’ needs and the farming process.
Lucy also has demand avoidance and so getting her to complete any job is a constant battle! – but with the goats, many things she sees as being less of a demand (depending upon the job of course!). The affection that Lucy receives from the goats in the calm environment of Handley Farm provides Lucy with a non-judgmental feedback that has an incredibly positive impact upon her behaviour and confidence…her weekly visits over the past 4 years are now firmly embedded in her routine and she would be lost without it.”
Sally (Lucy’s mum)
A big thank you to the fantastic team at Handley Care Farm for making us and our son Fin so welcome. It is truly a very special and inclusive place. Fin loves working in the amazing vegetable gardens and to see him give an unprompted full hug to one of the very friendly goats was his way of showing how happy he was.
Jake (Fin’s Dad)