eden eyes

Eden People
Charity head shave
Anne-Marie Harris from our North
Nottinghamshire region donated
her hair to charity after her
grandfather began to lose his
due to chemotherapy.
Ann-Marie
made the
decision
to cut her
long hair
off and
donate 13
inches of it
to the Little
Princess
Trust which
makes wigs
for sick children
who
have lost
their own
hair.
Her parents Diane and Trevor
were very proud of her, Trevor
said: “She is very close to her
Granddad and goes to see
him every weekend when she is
home. When he started to lose
his hair she said she had plenty
spare and decided to donate it
to charity.”
Volunteering at Rhubarb Farm with Kia
Rhubarb Farm began in 2011
to involve people from the local
community in setting up a social
enterprise whereby volunteers
can be actively involved with
the development and running of
horticultural production.
Volunteers with a range of
long-term needs work at the
Farm, ranging from people with
mental ill health and learning
disabilities to ex-offenders and
people recovering from drug
and alcohol misuse. Their Buddies
Project works with people with
mental health support needs and
learning disabilities, as Volunteer
Co-ordinator Debbie Reynolds
explains: “The aim of Buddies is to
support people to learn new skills
and build confidence. We work
with each volunteer to determine
the type of support they require
and tailor a programme suited
to their individual abilities and
desires.”
Being a working farm most
activities centre around
horticulture and the Farm sells veg
boxes and eggs to regular weekly
customers. During the winter
months other activities take place
such as making Christmas wreaths
to sell to the local community.
Kia attends Rhubarb once a
week and also volunteers at the
Langworth Show held on grounds
adjacent to the farm. At first Kia
came with his support, but now
visits on his own, he said: “I’ve
been coming since 2013. I like
doing everything here, weeding
and planting. Today we made
Christmas wreaths and we also
have food baskets and eggs for
sale. It’s really good here.”
Rhubarb Farm is always looking
at developing opportunities that
will help people move forward.
Debbie added, “Currently we are
looking at providing accredited
training courses on-site, so that
people who might not access
training in more traditional settings,
but feel comfortable coming here,
can gain qualifications that might
lead them on to something else.”
For volunteering referrals and
enquiries, please contact:
debbie@rhubarbfarm.co.uk
Tel. 01623 741 210
www.rhubarbfarm.co.uk
Kia and Debbie Reynolds at Rhubarb Farm
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