top of page

Rationale

Why Farming?

 

Recent studies* have confirmed that outside work in a farm environment:

  • improves social inclusion

  • improves mental health, especially depression and anxiety

  • promotes physical health, skill development, coordination, motor function and time management

  • promotes empathy, responsibility and self-worth

​

In addition there is growing evidence that exposure to nature improves cognitive function as well as mood. (4)

​

Word art v 3.png

Key factors guiding Longlands practice

Carl Rogers’s three core conditions – Congruence, Empathy and Unconditional Positive Regard – are the foundation of all our work with young people.

​

At Longlands we promote:

  • A non-judgmental, supportive and positive culture

  • Caring for and interacting with animals

  • Purposeful tasks – real work – encouraging motivation

  • Trusting young people and giving them responsibility

  • Small group and one to one working allowing therapeutic conversations while engaged on a task

  • 1 or 2 days/week acting as a ‘reset’ for the rest of the student’s week

conditions-for-therapeutic-change.png

"It's only when I'm outdoors that my mind holds still"

*  Selected extracts from published research:

​

1)    “Results from the Rosenberg Self-esteem tests showed  … 64% of participants experiencing an improvement in their self-esteem.”

“The Profile of Mood States results indicated that there were statistically significant improvements in all 6 mood factors.”

“The findings clearly show that spending time participating in care farm activities is effective in enhancing mood and improving self-esteem. Working on a care farm can … reduce feelings of anger, confusion, depression, tension and fatigue,  whilst also enabling participants to feel more active and energetic.”

 “… a highly statistically significant decrease in participants’ anger scores between before and after spending time on the farm ... and 94% people experienced a reduction in feelings of anger after their time on a care farm.”

Rachel Hine et al, Report for the National Care Farming Initiative (UK) January 2008, University of Essex, Colchester  (Executive Summary & p71)   https://www.farmgarden.org.uk/sites/farmgarden.org.uk/files/care_farming_in_the_uk_exec_summary.pdf

 

2)   “The main research findings evidenced in this paper can be summarised as below:

  • Care farms provide a nurturing and enabling learning environment for young people to self-discover and be free from the humiliation and frustration experienced, by some, in the traditional schooling system.

  • Animals on a care farm are an effective channel through which young people can express themselves in a safe and calming manner.

  • The informal relational discourse evidenced through interactions with the staff, young people and other participants, synergises with the nature-based pedagogy and learning contexts on a care farm, providing a catalyst for young people to learn practically, socially and introspectively.”

 Rachael Fell-Chambers, e-journal of the British Education Studies Association, Vol. 13 (2) December 2022  ISSN: 1758-2199 140   (Conclusion)   https://educationstudies.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/BESA-Journal-EF-13-2-09-Fell-Chambers.pdf 

 

3)   “After visiting … young people show statistically significant and meaningful positive shifts in their behaviour, engagement, self-esteem and mental wellbeing.

  • 90% of visiting staff saw an increase in young people’s ability to control their behaviour during the visit

  • 64% of those at risk of exclusion before visiting were no longer at risk 6 months on

  • 50% of those not on track in core subjects were now on track 6 months after visiting”

Jamie’s Farm, https://jamiesfarm.org.uk/impact/

 

4)   “Participants that walked in nature reported their walk to be more restorative than those that walked in the urban environment. Furthermore, the nature group showed an enhanced error-related negativity after their walk, an event-related brain component that indexes executive control capacity, whereas the urban group did not. These findings demonstrate that a 40-min nature walk enhances executive control at a neural level, providing a potential neural mechanism for attention restoration in nature.”

Amy S McDonnell  & David L Strayer, Immersion in nature enhances neural indices of executive attention Sci Rep  2024 Jan 22;14(1):1845.   https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38253734/  

 

Other Sources:

Times Educational Supplement Dec 31 2021

Social Farms & Gardens: https://www.farmgarden.org.uk/

bottom of page