Down to Earth Community Farm offers vulnerable members of local community an interactive escape

A community farm in Southampton has opened its doors to offer creative and engaging programmes to people living with dementia and learning disabilities in the local area.

Down to Earth Farm is owned by the Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill Community Hub and is located in Millbrook, close to Oasis Lords Hill Academy.

The farm receives more than 600 visitors each month and offers alternative education days to local schools, programmes for adults with learning disabilities, a dementia programme and is open to the public at the weekend.

First of its kind

Richard Mulholland has been working at the farm since 2008 as head gardener and is acting farm manager. He said: "Oasis community hub works with people in the local community, as well as older people living with dementia, children in schools and adults with learning disabilities.

"The farm hosts special designated days for the learning disabilities programmes; these are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday.

"On Mondays, we also run our dementia programme, where we see people visit for a few hours in small groups. One group visits the farm and the other group spends time in the wood workshop, working alongside some of the adults from the learning disabilities programme.

"The morning’s activities include handling and feeding livestock and small animals. These include cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, goats, turkeys, geese and a snake. During the afternoons visitors on either programme can participate in a set woodworking activity or seasonal crafts or gardening using natural materials in a safe environment."

The learning disabilities programme began at the farm in 2009 and the dementia programme was launched in collaboration with Age Concern Hampshire in January 2015.

Age Concern Hampshire estimate that approximately 1,500 people are diagnosed with dementia in Southampton each year. Many of these people are supported by care services that provide indoor based activities.

The creation of the dementia programme at the farm was inspired by the 'Green Care Farming' initiative which is being widely used throughout Europe to improve nutrition, health, well-being and social care outcomes.

Breaking down barriers and increasing understanding in the community

Area health & well-being manager for Age Concern Hampshire, Kym Devine said: "Not only are there amazing benefits for people with dementia in accessing the natural environment and being outdoors, we hope that we can break down some of the barriers people with dementia face in their communities, and increase understanding of the condition."

The dementia programme is the first of its kind for Southampton and is being funded by an £8,000 grant from Southampton City Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group.

The aim of the farm is to provide local people with the opportunity to meet and interact with animals in their natural environment. The five acre site hosts the farm as well as a woodland area, allotment garden, pond and kitchen.

Mr Mulholland said: "The maximum number of people in the learning disabilities programme is usually 12 plus carers, whilst the number of people in the dementia programme is usually up to 10 plus carers. On Monday afternoons, the wood workshop is only at half capacity as the dementia group often go home.

"We really try to get everyone to engage with all aspects of life on the farm. We have a kitchen which allows people to pick and collect fresh produce from the farm and learn to cook it. This is particularly useful for adults in the learning disabilities programme where they can develop life skills by doing different activities on a rotation."

Anyone aged 18 or over can apply to attend the learning disabilities programme and do not need to be referred or be accompanied by a support worker unless necessary. The dementia programme is open to anyone in the Hampshire area and some visitors come to the farm twice a week.

A team of volunteers work with six regular staff at the farm to see that people are matched with activities that are suitable for them and Monday’s wood workshop is largely occupied by men aged over 50.

'The community is the main aspect of the farm'

On Tuesdays and Fridays, the farm is open for educational visits from schools across Southampton and the surrounding area and on weekends offers two slots per day for children’s parties.

Speaking about the crucial team of volunteers who support the farm, Mr Mulholland said: "The farm has a bank of approximately 50 volunteers who help with educational visits, cleaning, school holiday events and evening tasks such as feeding and putting the animals to bed. We run on volunteers and couldn’t exist without the support they provide."

The farm’s dementia programme is funded until August and will require additional funding to continue to support people living with dementia in Hampshire.

Plans are underway to expand the current layout of the farm, these include doubling the size of the allotment garden on site and the installation of a pre-fabricated classroom on site.

Mr Mulholland added: "Everyone who comes to the farm, loves it. The community is the main aspect of the farm and we are open to the entire community throughout various days of the week and open to all at the weekend.

"We are constantly working to improve the current facilities and make the farm a more customer-friendly visitor attraction. We run open days each year and the next one is Saturday 18 April, where visitors can tour the farm, handle some of the animals, participate in craft activities and enjoy some live music."

The farm hopes to develop an existing building onsite and create a café alongside setting up a rare breed’s farm, already living on the farm are rare breeds; a Golden Guernsey Goat and a Northern Dairy Shorthorn Cow.

Mr Mulholland and the team at the farm are researching ways to secure funding to enable this to happen.

For more information on Down to Earth Community Farm, visit: www.downtoearthfarm.org/