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full disabled access , disabled toilet with hoist and changing facilities . The fantastic meeting room has underfloor heating and , most crucially , a dedicated team which has a wealth of experience in the health and education sectors .
Recently , on one of their visits , the Countryside Stewardship team suggested widening their reach to include younger children .
Densholme are able to host parties on the farm . There is a safety conscious playground for disabled people , ornamental Japanese garden area , complete herb garden and the wildflower areas attract a host of wildlife and birds for people to see . There are walks round the land to be taken as well . The Japanese garden was inspired by Denys ’ s trip to Tokyo for the marathon and was built during Lockdown . He has also run the New York , Berlin and Chicago marathons and is in the ballot for London 22 as well !
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He even has his own training run area through the woodland on the farm .
Densholme Farm is open to schools and educational establishments covering all years of education . Adults and children can learn about farm machinery and how it works , even sit on a tractor ! They can meet up with the friendly animals including chickens , calves , sheep , pygmy goats and pigs and learn all about rearing them .
People can also learn all about the plants and crops they grow , as well as planting seeds and
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harvesting . All visits are accompanied by a dedicated fully trained member of the farm . The educational visits are supplemented with easy reading reference material and Denys has even written some easy reading pictorial booklets , illustrated by one of his daughters . You can even visit the farm ’ s own wind turbine .
During Covid they were asked to provide an alternative curriculum to accommodate people with greater learning and attention difficulties . This has proved a great success . One such story amongst many , is of a boy named Joe . Joe had been expelled due to behavioural issues . The Densholme team have worked with him , and it now looks like he may be able to get into Bishop Burton College , amazing . Who would have thought running a care farm would be an ideal solution for combatting loneliness and stress for farmers . As I said before , Denys knew two farming neighbours that had both sadly taken their lives . Aware of how having the care facility had enriched both Denys and Mary ’ s lives , they launched a training programme for farmers interested in care farming .
The courses are run by their eldest daughter , Dr Rachael Fell-Chambers , who
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is a Senior Lecturer in Education and Learning at Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln . Rachael is the ideal person to run the courses as she did her doctorate on care farming .
Denys and Mary ’ s other children are also doing very well . Lucie is a primary teacher in Hull , Steven works in HR in London and Chris is currently doing a doctorate at Oxford on Shakespeare . A lot of academia runs in the family , will one or more return to the farm to take over in a few years ? As I understand , Chris does like to come back in the holidays to help out – so who knows .
Care farming is now acknowledged to have a significant positive affect on communities . Densholme have strong ties with many organisations , including Barnardo ’ s , Childrens University , Special Stars Foundation and many more , including a bid in with the local dementia group .
Denys told me that as well as all the other benefits , the care side provides an extra and welcome income stream , another example of diversification , which in these times helps farms both futureproof and prosper .
I asked Denys about the future . Both he and Mary look forward very much to the it , developing both the farm and care side together , welcoming and helping many more people .
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