Supporting our work

• We are hugely grateful to the
• I am a UK taxpayer and would like the charity to reclaim

many people who generously give their time, their energy or any donation - large or small - in support of our work. Pensioners, school children, churches, schools and
Gift Aid on my behalf (please tick) ___ I enclose a donation of £_________made payable to Farms for City Children

businesses all help to raise funds for Farms for City Children. You can be part of it too!

We want to make sure that as many children as possible can visit our farms. With this in mind, we aim to raise over £300,000 each year, to subsidise the true cost of each

child’s place. We must also

raise money to maintain the three historic farm properties which we are so lucky to have.

Feeding the kids at Treginnis

Please update newsletter mailing list:

• /
• add my contact details to your

If you are a UK taxpayer, you can make your donation under the Gift Aid scheme. This allows FFCC to claim back an extra 25p in tax for every £1 you donate.

Name:……………………………………………………… Address:……………………………………………………

......................................................................

e-mail……………….………………………………… Signed:…………………………………………Date…………

If you would like to make a donation and/or join our mailing list, please fill in your details.

(Information supplied is confidential and is not passed on to third parties)

Please return this page to:
Farms for City Children, Administrative Office, Bridge House,
25 Fore Street, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 1DL e-mail: [email protected]

Registered Charity number 325120

Winter
Newsletter
2010

This autumn we celebrate the launch of ‘Wick Court Food

Farm’ at our farm in

Gloucestershire. This exciting project, funded by a grant from the Local Food Lottery, means that the children can now get even more involved in completing the cycle of food production on the farm. They already help to rear local breed pigs, sheep and cows; they tend poultry, collect eggs and groom ponies; they work in the kitchen garden and they cook meals using the farm produce.
The orchards produce an amazing range of local and traditional apples, perry pears, plums and gages. Next begins a programme of restoration, regeneration and replanting. The children will help with pressing and pasteurising the juice, including samples to take home at the end of their week.

We launch Wick Court Food Farm on Sunday 24

October, with our first ever annual 'Pear Day' at the

farm. All welcome. For further information, please call Wick Court on 01452-741023 or visit our website.

With this funding, we can renovate and equip the former cheese room for storing, drying, juicing and preserving Wick Court produce. We can provide our young farmers with plants, seeds, ingredients, recipes and the new colour Wick Court Cookbook (illustrated by the children) to take back to their schools and homes.

Celebrating the launch of ‘Wick Court Food Farm’ in front of the round house

In preparation, and with help from the local orchard group, we have surveyed the three ancient orchards at Wick Court.

Christmas cheer!

We have several wonderful Christmas fundraising events coming up. Please join us if you can:

Nethercott Christmas Fair from 6pm on Friday 10 December - craft stalls, carol

singing, mince pies, mulled wine and activities for children.

Michael Morpurgo narrates On

Angel Wings, his nativity story

seen through the eyes of a shepherd boy, at:

Christmas card illustration by Quentin Blake

We are delighted have this stunning Quentin Blake illustration for our Christmas card this year and we hope that you will support our work and spread Christmas cheer by sending them to your family and friends

Southwark Cathedral, 6pm on Saturday 18 December with

Prunella Scales and Timothy West. To book call 01837-55876

Here is what the children of Tower Bridge Primary School, London said about their week at Treginnis
Isaf on the Pembrokeshire coast,
Christ Church Cathedral,

Oxford, 2.30pm on Sunday 19 December with Juliet

Stevenson. To book call 01865-305305

“ I felt happy when I went into the goat pen. I was a bit

scared at first but I went into the babies’ pen and they

chewed your coat. It was funny.
I will never forget when I got chased by a turkey!
I will never forget when we mucked out the pigs and Mrs

Ayriss said “smashing job, that’s the best pen I’ve seen”.

I loved it when we got to milk the goats and when I fed them the goat put his face near my hand

Guildford Cathedral, 7.30pm on Tuesday 21 December with

Jenny Agutter. To book call

01483-547860

but it didn’t hurt.

I’ve h ad a very good experience because I was afraid of

every single animal and now I’m not.

I felt happiest when I saw the lamb being born and being

able to hold one because I’d never done it before.

So many things I did were amazing like walking the horse, cleaning out poo, feeding chickens.

On Angel Wings is

accompanied by carols sung a cappella by Coope, Boyes and Simpson

I was afraid of dogs – but not anymore. ”

New Vice-President

“We will always remember:

Following a recent visit to Nethercott in Devon, Michael Caines MBE has agreed to join Quentin Blake OBE, Monty Don, Carol Hughes and Joanna Lumley OBE – amongst others – and become a Vice President of the charity.

The huge space of the countryside
How hard farmers have to work.
The porridge!
Being close up to the animals.
All the different animals.
All the lovely food.
How much walking we had to do.
The big trees to play hide & seek.
Climbing on logs and rolling down hills.
I loved cutting veg and making bread.

The sky at night is like a picture.
I feel calm with animals now

not scared.”

An afternoon’s potato lifting’ - Michael Caines at Nethercott House with children from Prior Weston School, London EC1

Michael Caines is an internationally acclaimed chef, with two Michelin stars, known particularly for utilising the finest local and regional produce and ingredients. He is executive chef at Gidleigh Park, the famous country hotel just outside Chagford and an Operational Partner and Director of ABode Hotels and Michael Caines Restaurants around the country.

Children from Leigham Primary School, Plymouth on their week at Nethercott in Devon

Michael is a wonderful ambassador for our work and a great role model for the thousands of city children that come and spend a week on our farms each year. He has championed the importance of using seasonal, local produce and this chimes with what the children learn on our farms about the sources of their food and about eating freshly prepared food, shared at the table, free from the distractions of television, computers or mobile phones.

Gidleigh Park Hotel has regularly donated to our charity over a period of many years and we are grateful to Michael for building on that support.