Youngsters and adults with learning difficulties are gaining first-hand experience of farming, food production and the countryside thanks to a thriving Dorset County Council smallholding.
Nigel Pritchard and his wife Vanessa have for the past six years run Holtwood Community Farm - a 15 acre DCC smallholding set on the outskirts of Wimborne.
Nigel used to teach people with learning difficulties at Kingston Maurward College, Dorchester, before, in 2009, setting up the Walled Garden at Moreton.
When land became available the following year at Holtwood, Nigel successfully tendered for the smallholding, which houses a range of pigs, sheep, free-range hens, a couple of cattle and an acre and a half of horticultural crops.
As well as Nigel and Vanessa, there are now five full-time and two part-time staff who all have extensive experience in social care and education.
'Sense of achievement'
On average, 12 individuals attend the farm daily with wide-ranging support needs, many of whom have a moderate learning difficulty: "There is a real mixture of people, ranging from those on the autistic spectrum, including Asperger's to those with challenging behaviours or others with mental health issues.
"The guys love coming to work here each day. They are getting out and doing a worthwhile independent job in a safe and healthy environment, contributing to the running of the smallholding which gives them a real sense of achievement.
"We are always being told by parents and carers how they see a real change in people's behaviours when they start at the farm, due to the fresh air sending them home tired but happy. We also work with special school groups, generally having one school each day of the week."
Nigel says the farm can make a huge difference to people's lives: "I remember a young man who I first met in 2008 who had Asperger's.
"He was unable to look at people and just about managed to say hello. He had attempted to end his life a couple of time and was in a very dark place when he started at the Walled Garden.
"When we moved to Holtwood he came with us and we worked with him for six years. He moved on from us and now has his own flat and recently started his own business.
"He comes and supports our open days (the farm runs two in May and October that are well supported by the community) and he and his mother both say that a lot of the change is down to the farm."
Holtwood has contracts with Dorset County Council, the Borough of Bournemouth and Poole Councils, the NHS and a number of schools across the county. It has its own transport, collecting from door to door, covering an area from Sherborne and Shaftesbury in the north to Weymouth in the west and all areas in between.
