Aviva Community Fund has provided £489 of match funding
Supplies for Vana Trust Therapeutic Farm
Aylesbury, England, United Kingdom
Aim
To help more people enjoy the farm, we will purchase a new marquee for space, animal feed, barn fencing, pay vet bills and buy a tea urn.
Who we are
Vana Trust Organic Farm is a beautiful, small, mixed farm on the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire border. We raise chickens, ducks, sheep, goats and pigs, we have a large kitchen garden and polytunnel for growing organic fruit, vegetables and herbs. Our large kitchen and tea room gives space for cooking classes and craft clubs
We provide activities, work experience and support for people with learning disabilities, autism and mental health issues from the age of 14 years old.
We are a small friendly team and through the farm we gently nurture, encourage and teach trainees valuable life skills. They also gain a work ethic, purpose, a sense of belonging and feelings of accomplishment.
Vana usually have @30 Trainees attending the Farm each week. Through the Farm, we gently nurture, encourage and teach them how they can contribute to and be a valued part of a community. What we have found is that each trainee has unique abilities and can be brought out, given the opportunity, support and nurturing. These are life skills that they retain even after they leave us to pursue other activities and friendships continue beyond the Farm.
Benefits Of Attending The Farm
- Improves physical fitness, muscle strength & stamina
- Develops mobility, balance, manual dexterity, fine motor skills & coordination
- Reduces feelings of depression, anger, stress, anxiety & isolation
- In working together, developing communication / interpersonal skills, & teamwork
- Practical farming, gardening & cooking skills are cultivated
Our Impact
We have helped over 100 people. Over 20 people gained employment after attending the farm. Over 10 people went into further education. When surveyed, the main benefits people gained were:
- Develop Skills
- Social Contact
- Work Experience
- Being Outdoors
- Gain Confidence
- Enjoyment & Fun
- Purpose
- Structure To The Week
What we are fundraising for
We want to raise £10,000 so we can fund:
A new marquee and tea urn for trainees and employees, to learn in a new safe environment, whilst catering for everyone through using the tea urn, to enjoy drinks together, and it will help to assistance farm work as it can assist as a boiler.
Our current housing for goats is not suitable, as it is very old and is falling apart.
We will also use money raised for new fencing, feed and vets bills for all our animals. Sustaining our closely ran community for all, and for new visitors/trainees.
Sustainability and climate change challenges
Vana have made an application for the Aviva Climate Fund. We want to both help prevent or reduce the impacts of climate change and also prepare people and places for the impacts of climate change, through education and recovery planning.
We want to encourage even more people to visit the farm and educate them on how they can contribute to sustainability through their own choices - we would also love to grow a field of organic sunflowers to bring joy to everyone who can visit.
We want to make our entire operation carbon neutral and will target that all our operations and cookery/craft events are sustainable with limited waste generated including using sustainably sourced produce which we have grown organically. We plan to start training our staff as sustainability champions so they can provide practical advice on combating climate change to our learners so instilling this into the next generation.
In 2022 - We would look to move more some of our staff onto electric vehicles/ bicycles so our business can both help others be sustainable as well as being more sustainable in our operations.
We know that sustainable farming through organic means can be a major influencer and we are looking forward to increasing our reach to educate people. We are also looking at how we can plant more trees to enable recovery from the current climate challenges.
This project successfully funded on 7th December 2021