Paul started at Longlands Care Farm as a maths tutor. Keen to get young people to engage he started cooking for them. Sitting down to a shared home cooked meal was a new experience for some, and by sharing this important time together, Paul built valuable relationships.
Over the last decade or so, Longlands Care Farm has helped teenagers and young people who have found mainstream school a struggle, perhaps through behavioural issues or mental health issues such as anxiety which can make leaving home a challenge.
It is a real working farm, where young people thrive off hard work and responsibility. Be it learning to drive tractors, caring for animals, or helping out with a riding group for disabled children, the young people get to help others and achieve things they never thought they would.
Over the years, Paul’s role has evolved into a volunteering one, which includes helping to publicise the organisation. Spending time walking around the farm, talking to and supporting vulnerable young people has helped them have an opportunity for success, with some young people whose relationships with school had broken down at very early age, going on to achieve college qualifications.
His motto is “It doesn’t matter what you do, it matters that you do it”, and he describes volunteering as hugely rewarding. The organisation offers lots of opportunities for volunteering tailored to individual skills. Find out more: Home (longlandsfarm.org.uk)
Friday 4th June 2021
