Jamie Feilden
2020 Outstanding Contribution to British Agriculture Winner
Jamie’s Farm, Bath
Sponsored by: NSF International
Kicking off the British Farming Awards evening was the announcement of this year’s Outstanding Contribution to British Agriculture Award, which was awarded to Jamie Feilden, Founder of Jamie’s Farm.
Growing up on a smallholding, Jamie began his career as a teacher but the initial spark for the charity came when Jamie was teaching in the first cohort of Teach First participants in a Croydon comprehensive.
Shocked by the battleground the school had become stemming from poor behaviour and a lack of engagement, he initially brought lambs from his own farm in Wiltshire and set up animal pens in the school playground, charging his pupils with the job of looking after them.
“I soon realised it was frequently the children who struggled most to focus and maintain positive relationships in school who benefited most from the responsibility and nurture needed to tend to these animals,” he says. “So I came up with the idea of taking pupils back to his home farm in Wiltshire.
Using his own farming experience and the 30 years’ worth of experience that Tish, Jamie’s mother, had built up as a psychotherapist, they developed an approach based on Farming, Family and Therapy and, following on from 35 pilot weeks, have never looked back.
Today Jamie and his team run five farms across the country working with schools and other organisations to offer residential stays to vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people.
Jamie’s Farm work in partnership with all their schools as they deliver their five-day residential stays which are designed to improve behaviour, boost engagement and improve well-being by building soft-skills such as self-esteem.
Achievements
So far 7,500 children and teenagers have benefited from the scheme with astonishing results as 60 per cent of those who enjoy a stay are no longer at risk of exclusion from school after six months.
Speaking to Farmers Guardian on winning his award Jamie said: “Winning this award is the most fantastic boost in what has been a very challenging year.
“From a young age I have been desperate to be a farmer. This award now proves that I am really part of the industry and I am very proud that I have been recognised in this way.
“My family, colleagues, and farming friends have been so supportive, and they are the reason that me and Jamie’s Farm have been recognised in this way.
“It is so nice to be able to celebrate this and it will provide real motivation to me and the team in the coming months and years.
Jamie’s Farm: Measures of our success
- Almost 8,000 young people (7,780) have benefitted from the residential programme since Jamie’s Farm began
- 72,468 hours of Farming, Family and Therapy have been delivered
- More than 300 schools have brought groups of students
- 60 per cent of young people at risk of exclusion are no longer at risk six months after visiting Jamie’s Farm (based on data from 2018-19 academic year)
- I’ve learnt to be less aggressive all the time. You can’t be aggressive to a sheep. Simone, Year 9
- Last year, the charity raised £2.7 million to deliver its transformative programme across its five farms, reaching more children than ever.
- There are now four residential farms spanning Bath, Hereford, Monmouth and Lewes. There is also one city farm in Waterloo, run in partnership with Oasis