Tiffany Fleming is a volunteer at High Mead Farm in Longham, Ferndown. High Mead Farm is a working farm run to promote the benefits of engaging with animals, soil, and nature. They ‘create purposeful roles for our co[1]farmers, young people and adults alike, to help bring about a sense of well-being and self-worth that many have never experienced before’.

I cannot believe that Christmas is almost upon us! The slow, almost leisurely, months of Lockdown have been left in the slipstream of our daily dash since spring. Time has flown past with a tempo challenged only by the force of Storm Arwen. November certainly left her mark as she exited, and High Mead, like so many others throughout the UK, felt the impact of her visit. Whilst our team of stoic staff and volunteers battled the bitter winds, to collect donations as part of Wimborne’s Christmas lights switch on (High Mead Farm being one of Mayor Webb’s chosen charities), Arwen was rearranging the farm and, in particular, our stables. Luckily, the ponies, whilst shocked, were unharmed. While the loss of the stables was a blow (no pun intended), we are fortunate that November had been a super month in terms of donations, thanks to some extraordinarily kind individuals and organisations without whom we would be lost. Visits from the University of the Third Age, an organisation for the retired or mature with a passion for learning, resulted in a very generous personal donation, Asda awarded the farm a grant of £1,000 towards the cost of a week of Christmas celebrations, the planning of which has been very enthusiastically embraced by the Co-Farmers, and a representative from Farrow & Ball visited to purchase some kindling and left the promise of a pallet full of paint which duly arrived a week later. December is also shaping up to be a marvellous month – a Christmas Fayre hosted by the Ladies’ Section of Ferndown Golf Club looks to have raised more than £3,500! There are still challenges ahead; the threat of Avian flu hangs over the area and means that, sadly, we are unable to welcome visitors beyond the Farm Shop, the animal team continue to treat little Domino, our poorly pony, and we are still extremely cautious about the continued threat of Covid. But on a more positive note we were also able to welcome our highest ever number of Co-Farmers to the farm during November. Thanks to the amazing team of volunteers and sensational staff at High Mead, 67 Co[1]Farmers were given the chance to grow last month – what a fantastic way to mark the end of the year. It is largely thanks to you, our readers and supporters, and others like you, that High Mead is able to do the wonderful work that it does. Merry Christmas! www.highmeadfarm.org.uk

We are seeking a full-time Head of Horticulture to join the team at High Mead Farm – if you’d like to know more about this very exciting role, please give us a call!