A Taste of Paradise Organic farm is a Berry-based charity focused on supporting disadvantaged and at-risk young people.
Interacting with animals and a farm environment has proven life changing and healing impacts on vulnerable young people.
Vanessa’s Story
Vanessa, 14, has been coming to A Taste of Paradise for one year. Working with the horses has been a healing process for Vanessa. She loves to feed them, pat them and groom them.
Read Vanessa’s Story…
Events
Come and say hello at some of our up-coming events.
Berry Farmers’ Market
Berry Farmers' Market, The Cow Shed in the Berry Showground, Albany Street, Berry
Berry Farmers’ Market
Berry Farmers' Market, The Cow Shed in the Berry Showground, Albany Street, Berry
Berry Farmers’ Market
Berry Farmers' Market, The Cow Shed in the Berry Showground, Albany Street, Berry
Your Donation makes All the Difference
HELP us continue our programs which have life-changing and healing impacts on the disadvantaged young people we support.
What our partners are saying about our services
The program has given my child a boost in self-esteem and confidence and I think to be able to trust, like they trust their mentor, in such a short time is a credit to the mentor and the program. As a mum and a carer, there are a lot of people involved in my child’s care, I go to so many meetings that are not great, it’s really lovely to go to the farm and be understood and on the same page. It makes me proud to be associated with A Taste of Paradise Farm.
A Taste of Paradise farm near Berry has been doing incredible work with local disadvantaged and disillusioned youth since 1999.
As these young people take responsibility for their own actions and experience the rewards born of their own effort, they develop greater personal resilience, while learning practical agricultural skills.
I would like to congratulate Mr Tim Francis and his dedicated team for all of the work they have done for many years and continue to do to assist disadvantaged young people in our local communities.
I have worked for many years .. with troubled youth, who do not fit into the community/societal norms that most people expect. In particular, I have found it very difficult to broker rewarding services that cater for 1-1 mentoring for young adolescents with disabilities. I cannot praise Tim’s interactions with my clients enough. The work that Tim does with these vulnerable people is amazing.
I have found that this program has enabled young people to develop skills, grow in confidence and overcome life challenges. Tim has always provided a safe and nurturing environment for the young people in his care. I believe that ‘A Taste of Paradise’ is an extremely valuable program for young people trying to overcome challenges and looking to establish themselves in life.
I am in awe of the work he does and the impact that this can have on the young people. In fact often their time at the Farm has represented one of the few positives that they may have had in their life and the positive impact that this has had is hard to truly convey.
We have young people over the age of 12 years who participate in the mentoring program who look forward to their time at the farm each week. Thank you “A Taste of Paradise Farm” for providing an amazing and unique service for our vulnerable young people, we feel privileged to collaborate with you.
Latest News
Our best wishes
Each year brings changes and over the last few months we have seen one mentor go and two more come. Josie, who has been with us for [...]
Improvements on the farm!
We have such a wonderful community supporting the work we do with at-risk and disadvantaged young people. With their help, we were recently able to purchase a [...]
Award to our wonderful ATOP Team
Exciting news for us from the Community Industry Group with their inaugural “We Do Magic” Awards which were presented Friday night 6 June at the Wollongong Novatel. The awards were [...]
Our Newest Addition!
Take a look at the newest addition to the farm. Here is Samson on his first introduction to his new home. At only about 8 weeks old, this cute little [...]
Contact Us
Be Inspired. Connect with us, join our mailing list today.
Our Virtual Tour of A Taste of Paradise Farm and Charity
If you are looking for a general introduction to the workings of our farm and charity work take a look at this video. It’s a great overview of what work goes on at the farm and how our philosophy of organic production and animal management provides a strong platform for disadvantaged kids to learn about trust and responsibility through our mentoring program.
The Farm on Village Vets
We are very proud of our association with Village Vets, the Foxtel Lifestyle show which follows two young local vets- Anthony and James. The Village Vets provide us with an invaluable service helping us when our animals are in need.
We jumped at the chance, when the shows producers asked if they could film the boys at A Taste of Paradise, helping with a difficult birth of a calf.