Bendalls Farm provides an excellent opportunity for service users to benefit from an open and quiet environment, enabling them to learn and develop new skills.
The 250 acre farm is situated on the Mendip plateaux, just 5 miles from the market city of Wells and enables service users to enjoy an outdoor farming and agricultural environment.
To maximise opportunities for learning and cater for a wide spectrum of needs, three groups have been formed.. Sessions for each group are headed up by qualified teaching staff.
Firstly the Blackdown group is for adults with severe learning difficulties. It focuses on therapeutic benefits and requires a high degree of staff support.
Secondly the Quantock group provides more structured teaching sessions, which will help develop existing skill levels.
Thirdly the Mendip group offers the chance for service users to undertake work based training for which they can receive therapeutic earnings.All groups encourage the service users to develop their independent living skills through practical tasks.
A benefit of having so much land is that we are able to keep a large variety of livestock. This gives service users the opportunity to help out with animals such as pigs, sheep, cattle and chickens, some of which are endangered rare breeds. We also have some more exotic animals such as llamas, rheas and water buffalo.
Bendalls Farm aims to be as sustainable as possible. We have several large vegetable patches which provide us with seasonal produce, and our selection of livestock produces quality pork, lamb and beef, which is used throughout the organisation. As you can see from the activities below, service users not only enjoy eating the produce, they have the opportunity to grow it as well.
In October 2007 a wind turbine was erected after a year on the waiting list. The wind turbine produces 6 k of electricity, which provides one of the teaching areas with enough power for lighting, heating and hot water.
Bendalls’s Farm also offers the benefit of a nature trail, a forest and various indoor workshops. Regular social events for service users are also hosted at the farm, such as barbecues, games days, presentation evenings, bonfire nights, Easter-egg hunts, etc.
Here is a sample of our day are activities:
Horticulture; There are various poly tunnels, vegetable patches and fruit gardens at the farm. These give service users the opportunity to help cultivate the plants and learn about differing produce. It also aids their understanding of food and provides them with an enormous sense of pride, as they can physically see and taste the benefits to their work.
Animal Care ;Several small animals on the farm need to be fed and watered on a daily basis. This gives service users the opportunity to work closely with the animals. Activities include feeding, grooming and cleaning out pens. We also have a wide variety of larger livestock. Service users are regularly involved with animal husbandry tasks such as lambing, farrowing, calving, feeding, changing bedding and, best of all, mucking out.
Cooking; Cooking sessions are designed to give service users the opportunity to work with produce that they have grown and cultivated from seed. It also develops their independent living skills as it gives a better understanding of food and the benefits of a healthy diet.
Environment On site there are several wooded areas in which service users can learn about woodland management, i.e. coppicing, agro forestry, biomass production and basic plant life. Nature trails run through these woods and new trees are planted each winter as part of our planting programme to extend the woodland. The woodland programme promotes the enhancement and development of ’habitat’which encourages foxes, badgers, barn owls and other birds of prey on the farm.
There are also several clay lined ponds on the farm which encourage insect and aquatic life.To help teach service users about environmental issues, rubbish created on site is taken to the recycling depot and all of the vegetable waste is composted.
Bendall’s Farm Day Centre Closure dates 2011
Term 1
Mon 10th January – Friday 11th February 2011
Closure Dates: Mon 14th – 18th February
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Term 2
Monday 21st February – Friday 16th April 2011
Closure Dates: Mon 18th – Fri 22nd April
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Term 3
Monday 25th April – 17th June 2011
Closure Dates: 20th June – 24th June
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Term 4
Monday 27th June – 19th August 2011
Closure Dates: 22nd August – 26th August
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Term 5
Monday 29th August – 21st October 2011
Closure Dates: 24th October – 28th October 2011
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Term 6
Monday 31st October – 21st December 2011
Closure Dates: 22nd December 2011 – 4th January 2012
1st Day of new 2012 term is: Thursday 5th Jan