Shropshire homebuilder donates £3,000 to charity farm
Barratt Homes West Midlands has donated £3,000 to Tickwood Care Farm, a charity farm that children and young adults can visit to increase their self-confidence, knowledge of the world, and everyday skills.
Tickwood Farm is in the Shropshire Hills National Landscape, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which consists of around 400 acres of land.
The donation from Barratt Homes will help the charity continue to provide opportunities for children and young people to grow and gain exciting experiences.
Edward Dugdale, Chair of Trustees at Tickwood Care Farm, said: “We will use this donation to become more accessible for the elderly. We are expanding our relationships with elderly organisations to tackle the loneliness issue and are planning an intergenerational project on the farm.
“We are always trying to be more inclusive to allow everyone to take advantage of our facilities. In 2023, when Severndale Academy and its Trust decided that outdoor education is not beneficial for children with learning difficulties, we had a lot of facilities which were not being used.
“So, the care farm has broadened its users to include more young adults and adults with learning difficulties, home schooling groups, smaller special needs schools, mainstream schools and older people.”
The farm began these activities in June 2003 and, when the children from Severndale School first visited, there were no facilities except those pertaining to farming. The pupils and their teachers declared that they wanted to visit weekly in the next academic year.
Over the next five years, the number of classes from Severndale grew alongside forest schools from mainstream primary schools. In 2008, Severndale decided that every child in the school should visit once a week and a weekly number of 100 children quickly grew to 350 children a week.
Edward said: “This required a huge change in the facilities we needed, so over the early part of 2008 and subsequent years we have introduced numerous additional features.
“There are now eight forest school sites, numerous toilet facilities, a commercial standard kitchen, pressing room, over one kilometre of woodland wheelchair routes, several adventure sites in the woods including a zip wire that is wheelchair-friendly, overnight accommodation including a bespoke camping ground, both walled and sensory gardens and much more space.
“We now have on average 25-40 people on the farm per week.”
The Child Mind Institute reports that spending time outdoors isn’t just enjoyable - it’s necessary. Many researchers agree that kids who play outside are happier, better at paying attention, and less anxious than those who spend more time indoors.
Adrian Evans, Managing Director at Barratt Homes West Midlands, said: “We are proud to support Tickwood Care Farm and its commitment to making its facilities available to a wide range of people who benefit from its opportunities.
“Tickwood plans to reach out and work with other local charities, schools and groups and, with this donation, we hope that more and more people can access and take advantage of its facilities.”
The donation from Barratt Homes, based close to the charity at its Scarlet View development, was made as part of its Community Fund scheme via The Barratt Foundation. It is designed to support national and local charities, large and small, across the areas in which the housebuilder operates.
To find out more information about the charity, visit the website at Tickwood Care Farm.
For information about any developments in the area, visit the website at Barratt Homes in Shropshire.
