Since the charity was founded in 2009, Jamie’s Farm has empowered approximately 13,000 disadvantaged young people, instilling self-confidence and improved behaviour via a unique approach of family, farming and therapy.
A catalyst for positive change
Jamie’s Farm serves as a driving force for positive change, particularly in the lives of young people helping them discover their best selves. The experience of facing challenges at the farm instils a sense of confidence, providing them with tools for overcoming obstacles throughout their life.
One of the popular programs at the farms is the residential stay. Young people visit for five days and during their time they engage in activities including farming, cooking for their peers, log chopping and daily walks.
Aside from the physical activities, an important aspect of their stay are the daily reflective conversations held around the table at every meal. Here, they share their highlights and gratitude. These discussions play a key role in helping them adopt new behaviour patterns to take away with them.
Further proving their dedication to young people's development, Jamie's Farm has created an alumni ambassador scheme and apprenticeship programme to seamlessly connect the five-day farm experience with continued growth. This enables programme graduates to return as mentors and develop crucial life skills through hands-on work and community involvement.
One remarkable statistic to highlight is that 75% of children at risk of exclusion were no longer at risk six months after their experience at Jamie’s Farm.
Its latest chapter
Now, a new chapter unfolds as the organisation sets roots down in its newest location. Lower Shockerwick is set in the beautiful Box Valley, five miles outside Bath and neighbours the original Hill House Farm, where the charity and Triodos’ relationship was initially cultivated.
The 200-acre farm includes a four-bedroom seventeenth century house, a cottage, and barns, all of which will be adapted with the help of HRA Architects for use by visiting school children, with residential visits starting in Autumn 2024. The new site has been purchased with lending from Triodos Bank, plus fundraised income.
With the addition of the Lower Shockerwick farm, Jamie’s Farm can now help 450 more young people annually, meeting the rising demand from schools and local authorities.
‘It is a dream come true and a significant opportunity to expand our therapeutic programmes for young people facing tough challenges. The farms history and beauty will come to life as we collaborate with young people and extend our regenerative farming practices throughout the land’ says Jamie Feilden, CEO and co-founder of Jamie’s Farm.
Andrew NashDisappointing that you think livestock farming is sustainable, ethical or desirable when it's one of the biggest environmental problems and certainly the most immoral industry on the planet. Teaching (conditioning) disadvantaged children to view animals as a source of exploitation and income isn't a good thing in any way. Your support for livestock farming is my biggest problem with your company, because it is not ethical. Organic and regenerative livestock farming may not be as cruel and unethical as other forms, but it is still extreme exploitation and murder of innocent, sentient beings and is totally unnecessary and in fact injurious to human health.
AuraThank you Andrew for these words, it’s encouraging to know that I’m not the only one to respond in this way. I’m glad you too are using your voice for the voiceless, and to signpost people and children to a better and kinder way of living in this world. 🙂
Richard Chandler-JonesUnfortunately Andrew Triodos isn’t a vegetarian bank.
MartinDo you know of one? I really dislike investing in animal agriculture
Richard Chandler-JonesIt illustrates, again, that the impression is of lending to fairly local (to Triodos in the South West) companies and organisations. I’d like to be disproven of this impression with figures showing the actual distribution of monies around the UK. Certainly the articles in the Triodos newsletter give me the impression of disproportionate ‘spreading of good news’!
Triodos Bank UKHi Richard, thank you so much for your comment. It’s extremely useful feedback that we’ll pass on to our lending teams. We do try to distribute the money we lend across the UK, but, as you’ve noted, there are hot spots. If you have a look at our map of organisations that we lend to across the UK (www.triodos.co.uk/know-where-your-money-goes), you’ll see that we do lend 94 organisations in the South West. It’s not a deliberate preference to focus on our local area. There are more than 700 organisations listed on the map. But as I’m sure you’ll appreciate, we end up learning about more great organisations in the South West by virtue of having a UK office based in Bristol. But we also lend to 98 organisations in the London area too, and many other locations across the UK, so there are many factors at play. Again, thank you for your valuable feedback. Regards, Alana
AuraAnimals are very special in how they connect with us and spending time with them has huge benefits to our mental health. However, those benefits would soon be stripped away and replaced with trauma if the adults and young people involved in this ‘course’ and other farms were to follow the short lived lives of these lovely animals all the way to the slaughterhouse and beyond. The reality of these animals lives is more than just spending time with them in the field, but the reality is kept away from children and adults choose to turn a blind eye because it’s not less than satanic and horrifying. I’m not happy that Triodos are supporting the suffering of sentient beings for the purpose of human greed. This program is effectively lying to young people by keeping them away from the reality of these animals fatal destiny. They are being encouraged to support something that is actually deeply wrong and disturbing in our society, if only people would have the humility and courage to really look into what it’s like for these animals living under the worse aspects of human selfishness and greed. I am upset to read this article, I think there are better projects out there where children can attend animal sanctuaries that have rescued farm animals and they can be taught about compassion for all and grow their hearts as well as heal their minds.
Philippa HillWhat a wonderful initiative and way of helping young people.
Triodos Bank UKThank you for your comments on animal agriculture. We appreciate that many people share your viewpoint and that our standards may not align with everyone. We aim to be totally transparent about this, and what we’re investing in, so that customers can make informed decisions. It’s worth noting that environmental and social concerns guide us when looking at funding for agricultural projects, including livestock-free horticultural, biodynamic and arable farms. We are also clear that people in the Western world consume too much meat and dairy from environmentally damaging intensive systems. We seek to encourage individuals to make conscious choices about their eating habits and realign them towards healthier and more sustainable alternatives. Regards, Alana
Cameron MillerA serious downside of this farm is that it promotes the existing, climate-destroying focus of "farming", with friendly cows, herds of sheep which destroy mountainsides.
Irene AuerbachSplendid and uplifting.
Ann-marie EvansWhen I applied for an account I thought Triodos was better than Monzo as Triodos doesn’t fund fossil fuel projects or deforestation… but if Triodos supports animal agriculture Triodos does support Animal exploitation. Think I will stick with Monzo.
Richard Chandler-JonesUnfortunately Andrew Triodos isn’t a vegetarian bank.
MartinDo you know of one? I really dislike investing in animal agriculture
Varshnie SinghJamie's Farm is an amazing idea, the results speaking volumen, we need more places like this with people who care