Articles
Stories from here at the farm
Bassenfell 2024
16/10/2024
For a few years now our Being There team have taken a group of those in our care away to the Bassenfell Christian Conference Centre for a supported group holiday. Being situated in the beautiful Lake District this is always a special time and enjoyed immensely by all who go.
This year we had a few problems in the lead up to the holiday, including staff and beneficiary illness and car issues. However, once we got there the Lord mightily blessed us and showered His provision on us in so many ways.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the stunning scenery and it was such a precious break from the usual concrete outlook of city tower blocks which is the daily reality for most of them.
We had prayed that the group would all get along together and that all the different backgrounds and situations people were coming from would be settled and happy together. The Lord answered our prayers in a glorious way. There was lots of fun, love and care shown towards one another, it was really very precious.
Each day we did a mixture of activities including shopping, lakeside walks, picnics, quizzes and games. In the evenings, everyone came together and we sung, prayed and studied God’s Word together, even those who have not been to a Bible study before came along which was really special.
The stark contrast between the joy of the holiday and normal life hits hard when it comes to an end, however, we left with precious, happy memories of the time we had shared together over these few days.
Please pray for these precious people, that they will be drawn by the love of the Saviour and reach out to Him in their need. Give thanks that we are able to walk alongside them in life’s ups and downs.
Hopes & Dreams
14/12/2023
Here at Caring For Life, our therapeutic daytime projects are a great way for people to enjoy friendship, company and learn new skills. Mostly people who join the farm projects come here to get some time out from their often chaotic and disruptive home lives, make new friends and just be able to have a few hours enjoying the peace and beauty of the farm setting.
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Each time a new beneficiary joins us we try and adapt to their individual needs and ambitions, resulting in them often flourishing in ways we couldn’t have imagined. We have found this approach to be a great benefit to those who come to us, allowing them to gain confidence and skills but within a safe and loving environment.
One of our beneficiaries who has been with us many years is a very important and valuable member of the Equestrian team. He has been involved with the horses here since we had our very first shire horses and is a huge asset to the team. He is also able to bless new beneficiaries that join the project with his precious, caring nature, helping them to make friends and get to know the horses.
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Another one of our beneficiaries joined us and spent several years on our farm projects, and is now part of the barista team in the Granary. He is someone who would struggle with the pressures of a more commercial environment, but is flourishing here, because he is surrounded by supportive staff members and is an absolute asset to the team.
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Others who come to us manage eventually to move on to employment after spending a few months with us. Although the vast majority of those coming to us for support won’t manage to move on to further employment, we still try and enable them to achieve any hopes and ambitions they have. When appropriate we will work with individuals to help them gain more experience in an area of interest away from the farm, in order to give them more opportunities of employment in their chosen area.
We thank the Lord for the opportunity to engage people with work to do, and above all, for the time and space to share something of the Lord with them. Seeing the change in people from being demotivated and feeling aimless to developing their hopes and ambitions is truly wonderful.
Jonathan Parkinson.
Donations Make a Big Difference
This year thanks to a generous donation given to us from The Craig Charity for Children we have been able to organise several events for some of the families we support.
Each month we have our coffee and play meetings which enables families to come up to the farm for a time where the kids can play, and the parents can have a coffee whilst enjoying chatting with the other parents who are there. This regular meet up has been greatly beneficial to all those families involved. However, this year with the help of the grant from the Craig Charity for Children we were able to organise a few different day trips and activities in addition to this.
At Easter, we held a special event here at Crag House Farm. Around 18 children attended with their families and we did a range of activities from pony riding to cuddling the lambs. We had snacks and drinks in two of the summer houses in the conservation area and then did an Easter egg hunt. Everyone had a really fun day, the parents/guardians were absolutely delighted to see how happy the children were around the animals.
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In August, we visited Puttstars Golf in Leeds with a group of 5 families where they enjoyed two rounds of crazy golf, then pizza and hot dogs for lunch. We were also able to bring families up to the farm to enjoy some of the child friendly activities that the Social Enterprise areas had arranged for the general public. These activities included, Story Time, Unicorn Day and a ‘Teddy Bears’ picnic! For all of these trips and activities, we have been able to cover all the costs, manage the travel and be around constantly to help out with the children, so the families can just come and enjoy without the worry of organising any of it.
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For those families we support who can’t cope with lots of people, we organised some smaller trips out, with 1 or 2 families at a time. These involved a trip to the park or playground and some ice cream!
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The money we are given from Trusts and supporters to enable us to support people in this way really is such a blessing to the vulnerable folk we support.