Farms for City Children

Farms for City Children is a charity enabling children from disadvantaged communities to experience the adventure of working together on our farms in the heart of the British countryside.

The mission of Farms for City Children is to help children and young people experience personal growth and develop enhanced transferable life skills through food, farming and outdoor learning activities that connect them with each other and the natural world.

Farms for City Children has three farms which provide a new world for children to explore and a warm and welcoming team to work with.

Devon – Nethercott House

Nethercott House sits just outside the pretty Devonshire village of Iddesleigh with views to the high tors of Dartmoor National Park. Nestled deep in the countryside that inspired our founder – Michael Morpurgo – to write War Horse, Nethercott House is a Victorian manor with wide sweeping lawns, steeply banked lanes, and ancient hedgerows that lead down to the River Torridge. ​

Nethercott House accommodates up to 39 children and 5 adults.​

During a visit to Nethercott House children will be immersed in the practical and meaningful farming tasks of the day, such as:​

Feeding poultry and collecting eggs • grooming and mucking out horses, ponies and donkeys • feeding cattle • herding sheep • feeding pigs • walking through the fields and along the trout stream to check the health of livestock • working in the kitchen garden to sow, grow, tend and harvest the fruits and vegetables • cooking nutritious meals from the produce harvested in the kitchen gardens • making butter and yoghurt in the creamery • lighting fires, whittling wood, and making dens in the forest • walking into the village, the spiritual home of Joey, Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse.

Pembrokeshire – Lower Treginnis

Lower Treginnis farm sits on the stunningly beautiful site of a 700 year-old farmstead and is the most westerly farm in Wales. Situated on the peninsular just outside of Saint Davids – the UK’s smallest city – Lower Treginnis provides visitors with an incredible mix of traditional Welsh sheep farming and direct access to the beautiful beaches of Pembrokeshire National Park.​

​Lower Treginnis accommodates up to 39 children and 6 adults.

During a visit to Lower Treginnis children will be immersed in the practical and meaningful farming tasks of the day, such as:​

Feeding and caring for goats (milking in season) • feeding poultry and collecting eggs • grooming, walking and mucking out donkeys • watching lambing (in season) herding sheep and checking health • feeding pigs and weighing piglets • working in the kitchen garden to sow, grow, and tend to vegetables and flowers • harvesting field-scale vegetable crops to use in the kitchen and sell off the farm • cooking nutritious treats from the farm produce • log session to produce kindling and firewood • coastal walk to see the abundant wildlife and learn about local history • beach visit for rock-pooling, beach cleaning and creative activities.

Gloucestershire – Wick Court

Wick Court is an impressive Elizabethan moated property once used as a hunting lodge by the nearby Lords of Berkeley and rumoured to have hosted Elizabeth I. The majestic house looks out across idyllic pastures to the reed beds of the River Severn – a view that has changed little since the first recorded farmstead stood on this land in the middle ages.​

​Wick Court accommodates up to 36 children and 5 adults.

During a visit to Wick Court children will be immersed in the practical and meaningful farming tasks of the day, such as:​

feeding rare-breeds poultry and collecting eggs • grooming horses • feeding dairy calves • herding sheep and halter training lambs • feeding and weighing pigs • working in the kitchen garden to sow, grow, tend and harvest the fruits and vegetables • cooking nutritious meals using fresh farm produce • picking apples and pressing fresh juice • beekeeping • storytelling • Forest School activities like den building and fire lighting • birdwatching • willow harvesting and weaving • Bio-diversity walk & draw.