B&Q Colchester (Tollgate)

From August 2021, we welcome 32 families who came from Afghanistan after the Taliban problem in Kabul. We work with the local churches and local community groups to support us with donations for newly arrived families. The churches have been very supportive for the mission. St. John the Baptist church at Mt Bures, Hope Community Witham, Castle Methodist church, Fordham church and most of the local community groups in Colchester. We visit the newly arrived families after they got home from the refugee centre, which they provided them with basic items such as: fridge, freeze, washing machine, cooker, sofas and a bed. We are involved with these newly arrived families to provide them with all their needs, like: clothes, shoes, toys for the children, food in a weakly basis, kitchen devices, beddings, gardening tools, hoovers, mirrors and hair driers and we visit them regularly to support them and give them advise for education and NHS and the rest of the rules in UK. We also connected them with families through churches, so they can befriend them rather than being isolated. All of our services to our clients are provided free of charge.

To relieve the condition of disadvantaged persons in mid-essex experiencing difficulties with homelessness, joblessness, substance misuse, physical and mental health problems, learning difficulties by the provision of support services to assist them in maintaining normal relationships with and within their community.

Wellies-On Community Interest Company (CIC) is a not for profit Care Farm. We use the everyday running of our mixed livestock farm as a vessel through which we can deliver transferable life skills and resilience, We believe in bringing together care of the land and animals with care of the people for mutual healing. Interactions with animals have been shown to improve health and well-being, especially in terms of mood and socialisation. "We take it for granted that we can go outside when we want to, enjoying fresh air, sunlight, plants and trees – and it generally makes us feel much better, relieving stresses of everyday living. Yet people in hospital, people in care homes and especially those with dementia are all too often not able to do this." - Dementia Services Development Centre. At Wellies-On CIC we have created the idea of the 'flat-pack farm' as an extension to our current provision. Flat-pack farm means that the farm can come to residents in their own home, hospital or residential setting with expert staff bringing along different farmyard animals and running nature based activities. It is not always possible for people to access the farm, through utilising the flat pack farm we are hoping to reach out to more people who are often in greater need of intervention. In addition, we understand that during the colder months, some people may prefer to complete indoor activities. We have animals that have been specifically trained to take part in activities and have been exposed to many situations making them ideal assistants in our work. The animals we are able to take out on visits are a small selection from our farm and include chickens, guinea pigs, dogs, pygmy goats, small Shetland ponies and seasonally lambs, kids, chicks etc. We hope that as a result of our interactions in the residential environments we will be able to gather evidence and opportunities for the residents to be able to progress and where appropriate, venture out of the home / hospital environment and take part in our on farm community and activities. We believe that there is something for everyone to be part of on the farm. The clients that attend Wellies-On CIC care farm get involved in everything from grooming to milking, bedding down the animals to leading them in and out, planting things in the garden & woodland, cooking, sweeping the yard area and everything else in between. Service users work with a team of highly qualified teachers, mental health professionals, trainee occupational therapists and support staff, often in small groups or on a 1 to 1 basis. In all cases they are working towards a better quality of life. Being in a farm environment and taking part in farm based occupations has been shown to provide individuals with multi-sensory stimulation, physical activity, cognitive stimulation, a source of vitamin D, regulation of sleep patterns, and the opportunity to reminisce and share memories from their lives.