We wish you all the blessings of the Christmas season as we approach the end of 2021. We are proud of the young people who have been at the farm this year. They have shown great progress, learning new skills and advancing in their self-confidence.
On the farm, we are getting ready for Christmas and planning some time off to spend with family and friends. As usual we have a few weeks where there are no young people at the farm and limited staff as well. Our animals and gardens still need to be cared for and checked on, but we minimise the workload for a week or so to give staff and volunteers a break. We also try to catch up with some farm jobs in January while the young people are still away. We hope to continue at the Berry Farmers Markets each week over the holiday period, so come and say, “Hello”.
We encourage care organisations to apply early for positions in 2022 so they can have applications processed and days allocated for when we return to mentoring in mid-January.
The animals will be missing the contact they have with the young people and looking forward to their return. The horses in particular love all the carrots and the extra grooming and the dogs love the attention too. All the animals and our team will be ready to welcome the kids back. We also take this time to thank all our volunteers, donors and staff for their support over the last challenging year and wish you the best for the coming year.
