Farm scheme helps learning disabled young adults

2 hours ago

Clare Ashford,BBC Radio Shropshireand

Andrew Dawkins,West Midlands

News image — David Young said a volunteer programme had been started to help with vegetable growing

BBC Three wooden boxes lined up with vegetables in. There is a mixture of red cabbage, courgettes, runner beans and onions. — David Young said a volunteer programme had been started to help with vegetable growing

A Shropshire farm that invites young adults with learning disabilities to grow food for local people said the scheme helps them with vital life skills.

The Rooted & Booted initiative created by David and Fiona Young was inspired by daughter Tara, who was born with severe learning disabilities, and is run from their 300-acre organic livestock farm north of Whitchurch.

Mr Young said they started growing vegetables with the project to allow the young adults taking part to involve themselves in it "from seed all the way to delivering boxes to local customers".

The couple added they recognised that while young people with learning disabilities face many challenges,"they also have great strengths".

Their daughter, who is a non-verbal communicator, began a hospitality course at college, but switched to horticulture because "she enjoys life at home on the farm", they said on the scheme's website.

They added that during her "five happy years at Derwen College [in Gobowen], our thoughts focused on her next stage".

David said: "We run day service provision for young adults with learning disabilities and we invite our service users to join us for a day on the farm to help up grow food for local people in whatever capacity they can.

"In doing so, we help them develop their life skills in an extremely healthy, compassionate and enjoyable environment."

Rooted & Booted Three people - two females and one male, who is the only one looking at the camera. They are prominent on the photo, with the female on the left and the male on the right both wearing green tops. — The Rooted & Booted initiative was created by David and Fiona Young and inspired by the needs of their daughter, Tara

The scheme was launched eight years ago at the farm, which also has 600 sheep and more than 25 cows.

Young added: "We roll with the seasons, and during the winter it's all about sort of helping feed the animals, who are mostly inside, and doing conservation work around the farm."

"There's never a dull moment and no one day is the same."

'Real struggle'

The couple said a Rooted & Booted day for its "troopers" starts with a reception where the plan for the day is explained.

This "sets the scene within the farming season" and describes what is happening on the farm that day.

Those taking part operate with their support workers as a pair.

David said: "We enjoy producing food for local people and that's got to be the future of farming hasn't it?"

He added: "We're finding it a real struggle to cope with the extremes in the weather."

"It's really difficult to make the farm work just by producing meat on a reasonably small scale... Every farm has, I'm afraid, got to diversify in some way."

"We're diversifying by trying to encourage people to come onto the farm who will benefit from being here, be [that] young adults with learning disabilities, schoolchildren or adults with mental wellbeing struggles."

Boxes of vegetables are at the bottom of the photo in the foreground, by a wooden structure, with three people behind it posing for the camera. A field, a long hedge and trees are in the background at the top of the image. — Volunteer Ethan Cook (left) was pictured with his mother, Heather, and another volunteer, Adehle Stafford

He added that a volunteer programme was also started "to help with the vegetable growing which is very much a sort of not [for] profit social enterprise".

"We want those people to volunteer to get some therapy from being here and growing the vegetables and preparing the way for the young adults with learning disabilities."