by Wendy Pattison

wendy.pattison@northumberland.gov.uk – Tel. 07779 983072

And also on Facebook: Cllr Wendy Pattison

[All text and the above portrait photo provided by Cllr Wendy Pattison and used with permission. Received: 26 October 2021.]

HEDGELEY PARISH

I wanted to include the following information which is from the Social Farms and Gardens Website which is a charity-based organisation amongst others in the Country which support a supervised, structured programme of farm-related activity for people with a defined need. 

What is care farming?

Care farming means the therapeutic use of farming practices. It’s sometimes called social farming. 

Care farming sits amongst other nature-based therapies that are collectively called ‘green care’. Green care means structured nature programmes for people with a defined need to benefit health, social care or education outcomes.

Social Farms & Gardens is a founding member of the Green Care Coalition. The coalition represents green care providers in the UK and promotes green care as effective option for health and social care.

People attend care farms for different reasons. It can be for health and social care, dementia, mental health and wellbeing, rehabilitation or a specialist education programme.

There are around 300 care farms of all shapes and sizes right across the UK providing care places. Care farms can look very different from each other and are as diverse as the people that they support. 

One thing all care farms have is common is providing a supervised, structured programme of farm-related activity for people with a defined need. Care is bespoke, person-centred and focused on the individual.

What is unique, is that care farming activity has a real purpose behind it. People are able to make a meaningful contribution to the running of a farm. This might be through animal care, growing crops and vegetables, horticulture, or land management.

People who commission care services are increasingly recognising the benefits of care farming. 

Care farms: 

• Deliver health care, social care or specialist educational services for individuals from one or a range of vulnerable groups of people
• Provide a programme of farming-related activities for individuals with a defined need
• Provide supervised, structured, bespoke care services on a regular basis for service users
• Are commissioned to provide services by a range of referral agencies 
• Deliver services for adults, young people and children

Social Farms & Gardens is a UK wide charity supporting communities to farm, garden and grow together.

UK & Head Office

Head Office:
The GreenHouse, Hereford Street, Bristol BS3 4NA
Tel: 0117 923 1800
Email: admin@farmgarden.org.uk

Grants available for community led affordable housing

A fund that is available to assist community led affordable housing schemes across the county is reaping real results for local people, and there is still money left in the pot to support similar community projects. 

The homes can either be new build or existing properties that are to be refurbished and funding is available for design work, construction costs and project management. 

The money is provided by Northumberland County Council from its Community Housing Fund, which was allocated to the council from Government to help community organisations deliver affordable housing. 

The council secured an allocation of £1.3m from the national fund which is paying for a dedicated community housing officer to provide advice and support, with further funding being provided to fund Communities CAN (North East) Ltd. Together, the council and Communities CAN are working together to help those wishing to set up an affordable housing scheme, as well as contributing towards the delivery of affordable housing projects. 

This community-led housing fund aims to support local people to play a leading role in solving local housing problems and increase the number of long-term affordable homes in their community. What has been particularly pleasing to see in Northumberland is that some of the recent schemes have helped to refurbish and maintain old heritage buildings in rural communities, bringing them back to life so they can help address an important housing need in their local communities.

Community schemes that have benefited from the fund so far include Haltwhistle Partnership, Embleton Parish Council, The Glendale Gateway Trust and Corbridge Parish Council

Community groups which would like more information about community led housing can contact Linda Lacy, Community Housing Officer at email linda.lacy@northumberland.gov.uk 

Northumberland lottery

Northumberland Lottery was created in 2020 by Northumberland County Council.

Set up to support community projects in the local area, Northumberland Lottery operates on the principle of raising money within the community for the community. We empower local good causes to raise money in a fun and effective way.

In a time of shrinking budgets and increased community need, Northumberland Lottery enables people to support the causes they care most about, helping good causes to connect with their supporters.

A ticket for Northumberland Lottery costs £1 a week and 60p will go directly to good causes!

Are you a good cause looking for a way to raise funds online?

You can start raising funds for your cause with Northumberland Lottery. It’s a no risk option because it’s absolutely free to set up! We take a small percentage from every ticket sold to cover the costs of running the lottery.

With just 50 tickets a week you can raise £1,300 every year. Tickets are £1 a week with a top prize of £25,000!

9am – 5:30pm Mon – Fri (ex Bank Holidays); Tel: 01670 234230; Email: support@northumberlandlottery.co.uk

Playing the lottery

Northumberland Lottery is an exciting weekly lottery that raises money for good causes in Northumberland. All good causes supported by the lottery will benefit Northumberland and its residents.

Play the lottery, support Northumberland – it’s that simple!

Tickets for the lottery cost just £1 a week. Each ticket has a 1 in 50 chance to win a prize each week, with a top prize of £25,000! That’s a better chance of winning than the National Lottery or the Health Lottery.

Each ticket has six numbers, and each number is between 0 and 9. There will be a draw every Saturday night when a six-digit winning combination will be picked. Prizes will be given to players with tickets that match the first or last 2 to 6 numbers from the winning combination. Match all six and you win the jackpot!

Your local good causes

The lottery and its prizes are our way of putting the fun in fundraising. The real winners are the good causes. From every £1 ticket sold 60p will go to good causes in Northumberland. To put this in perspective when you play the National Lottery 25% goes to good causes – we’ve more than doubled the ticket percentage that goes to good causes.

Even better, you can choose which good cause gets 50p of the 60p (the remaining 10p will be distributed to other local good causes).

The draw will take place every Saturday night with results posted on our website, Facebook, and Twitter. Winners will be advised directly, so if you don’t have the time to check who’s won, we’ll let you know.

Signing up is FREE and takes less than a minute. Once signed up we will:

• Build your good cause page on the Northumberland Lottery website.
• Provide you with personalised marketing materials to send out to your supporters and local community.
• Support you with guides, tips, email and phone assistance.

You will receive 50% of all ticket sales from supporters that sign up on your page. Your funds will be transferred into your bank account every month.

What’s the catch?

There isn’t one. No set-up fees, no administration, no hassle. All you need to do is shout about Northumberland Lottery to your supporters and community.

Can I join?

Any good cause operating within Northumberland can apply.

• Weekly updates on the progress of the lottery and the supporters who’ve chosen to support you.
• Regularly updated and personalised marketing materials.
• Access to an online dashboard so you can see real time statistics on supporters who’ve chosen to support you.
• A monthly payment of your funds direct to your bank account with an accompanying report.