Fresh air, blue sky, tractor, farm animals are not what I associate with my day job as a software engineer. In the winter I like to be in a centrally heated office while in the summer I enjoy breathing the pollen-free, chilled and re-circulated air of my air-conditioned office courtesy of my employer. I don't even live in Suffolk, but modern technology allows me to gather news and photos from other members of MFT and put them up on the website. All this changed one Friday last autumn when Bernadette invited me to spent half a day at the Rede Hall Farm with the MFT team.

Rede is in the middle of nowhere, so farmworkers get a lift from a support worker whenever possible or use the community car service that the Trust organises where necessary.

The day started in the MFT workshop where the team went through the day's objectives over a cup of tea. To greet me were the farmworkers Alan, Alex, David, Miriam and Sam. They were complemented by Bernadette, Doug and Philip who were support workers for the day.

After tea, the team put on their gear—steel cap boots and protective overall—and ventured to the stable next door. Normally they would have gone straight to the farm where the team had planted fruit and vegetables, but on this occasion, the owner of Rede Hall Farm, Nigel, had kindly agreed to give a talk on large Suffolk Punches which he breeds. A wide range of subjects were covered, from how to feed the horses to how the size of a horse was measured. Did you know that the height of a horse is measured in hands, where a hand is equal to roughly four inches? Nigel's talk was interactive - the farmworkers were actively encouraged to participate in the discussions and I was continually impressed by how much the farmworkers knew about animal husbandry.

After learning about horses, the team was divided into two groups for the rest of the day. The workshop was in need of extra storage space and a multi-tier shelf unit was waiting to be assembled. This was competently tackled by Alan, David and Philip. The shelf unit was plastic and the farmworkers demonstrated their workshop skills in putting together the fiddly and bendy plastic pieces. The spacings between shelves were measured to ensure they would accommodate the items to be placed on them.

On the farm, there was evidence of the earlier summer harvest. Raspberries the size of large grapes were still hanging off some bushes while other soft fruit has been replaced by baby winter squashes, pumkins, corgettes and zucchini. There is currently only enough money for the Trust to operate at Rede once a week. Crops such as strawberries and raspberries do not survive on being watered once a week in the hot summer months. Therefore to have any chance of growing anything volunteer support workers and committee members have to take turns to travel to the farm on non-work days to tend to the crops. I cannot help but admire the dedication and perseverance demonstrated by the team.

The perimeter path around the farm was overgrown with overhanging vegetation and weed. Clearing the path was today's job for Miriam and Doug. Miriam, normally responsible for feeding the animals at Old Hall but happened to be at Rede today, proved to be just as adept with the loppers. The weed on the ground was no match to Doug's scythe and the path was soon cleared.

On the other side of the farm, Alex was making frequent trips to the water tank to fill up the watering can that he was using to water the salad crops. Sam was weeding the ground that was being prepared for sowing. Bernadette was tending to the vegetables and at the same time keeping an eye on Alex and Sam in case they needed advice or extra help.

I left Rede as the farmworkers and support workers broke up for lunch (no, I didn't bring a packed lunch). What I saw there was dedication, hard work and team work. The farmworkers, despite their disability, were knowledgeable and skilful in their areas of expertise. They clearly thrived in an environment in which they enjoyed working, under the expert care and supervision of the support workers. Training with MFT is made possible to some of the farmworkers by the local council's Direct Payment. Direct Payment enables people in need of help from social services to arrange and pay for their own care and support services. In this case, it makes it possible for adults with learning difficulty who are interested in farming to receive training and practice their skills in a caring and safe environment. The skills they acquire at MFT, such as first aid, continue to be useful when they go home to their semi-independent living. The ones who get Direct Payment, company sponsorships or grants are the lucky ones. The less fortunate ones who cannot secure funding find their support options rather more limited. Long term funding is needed to secure placements and to allow a range of training and work opportunities to be developed.

Alan, Doug, Sam and Philip listening to Nigel talking about large Suffolk Punches

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14