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12 Community
Down at the Farm Charity Family Fun
Day- at Eco-Centre Community Care
Farm, Screveton, near Bingham
Interview by David Galji with Clarissa of Rosie May Foundation
What was your vision for
a Down at the Farm event
and why did you choose
to do a ‘Down at the Farm’
event?
The vision was simple- a
family orientated fun day
out that encouraged people
to enjoy the beautiful
natural
environment
surrounding the farm and
promote the work of both
the Eco-Centre and the
Rosie May Foundation.
A 5k Fun Run had been
a vision of Farmer David
(Owner of the Eco-Centre) for a while now- so we
wanted to put that vision to reality while having fun
and games after the run on the farm. The environment
was very fitting as we were fundraising for the Eco-
Centre and Rosie May Foundation’s joint agricultural
projects with a women progressives group in Nepal-
the aim of promoting organic and sustainable farming
to improve the livelihoods of rural Nepalese families.
We managed to raise £1390.00 for the cause, so thank
you so much for everyone that came!
Tell us about what there was to do?
There was a little bit of everything for everyone on the
day, the main event was the 5k Farm fun run after that
we had a family nature trail, a British scone bake off,
welly wanging, goat racing and trailer rides on the farm!
Who came?
We had an amazing turnout for the 5k farm run- 41
people joined us to undertake the challenge! Overall
we had just over 100 people attending the day,
what was especially nice was that we reached out
to a diverse group, from loyal RMF and Eco-Centre
supporters and sponsors to families from the Bingham
area who had never visited the Eco-Centre and wanted
to learn more. It was nice to reach out to new people
and let them know about our work.
What was your personal highlight of the day?
After the hustle and bustle of mad organisation it was
amazing to see the 41 5k runners lined up and spread out,
undertaking their pre-run warm up with personal trainer
Jane Lewis, with music blasting out, people giggling and
having fun- it was really special to see all these people
who had turned up ready to run for our cause together.
Tell us a little bit about the Rosie May foundation…
Over the past 12 years, the Rosie May Foundation, has
developed from a family-run charity to an international
charity with a strategy to help children in crisis, especially
girls- giving them a voice and a choice, in their own future.
The Rosie May Home in Sri Lanka since 2008 established
after the devastating 2004 tsunami, has been empowering
orphaned young girls to strive for a brighter and better
future aiming to reunite siblings and enable reunification
with parents or family. Our Project Hope in Sri Lanka aims
to provide opportunities for skills training and support to
help mothers keep and care for their babies and young
children and reduce de-institutionalisation. We have
recently expanded into Nepal with our new partnership
NGO Sahas where we will be focusing on sustainable
agricultural projects, developing the Manguri Girls Hostel
to provide safe and secure accommodation for girls and re-
building the earthquake destroyed Okhaldhunga District
School. It is an exciting time for the Rosie May Foundation
as we expand and develop our projects.
Thanks for talking to us, any upcoming events our
readers should know about?
Rosie May Strictly Come Dancing January 2017
Volunteer Information Day, February 2017
Asda 10k run Nottingham, April 2017
Rosie May Tea Parties throughout May 2017
Tea Trail trek Sri Lanka, September 2017
Rosie May Yoga Retreat, Sri Lanka, October 2017