Caring For Life

This month at Caring For Life has been remarkable in lots of ways, with lots of things happening in our building projects, but most significantly, the near completion of our 'PAM' project, the new stock barn.

I regret that I am late in writing my article, but as I write, indeed this very day, Friday 21st March, our sheep are in and producing lambs and today we moved our cows, heifers, last year's calves and the bull into their new home. There are still lots of niggling little things to sort out from a constructional perspective, but the barn is up and running.

Let me explain what this is all about. At Caring For Life we have been involving vulnerable, often formerly homeless, men and women in agricultural activities for over twenty years. We have demonstrated that working with animals in a rural environment is hugely therapeutic for those in our care, and Caring For Life has gradually developed the agricultural project, which has made a real difference in a number of ways:

Firstly, it has proved to be hugely beneficial in therapeutic terms in helping, supporting and encouraging emotionally damaged and hurting people.

Secondly, it has proved to be a place for some to gain crucial and valuable work experience and training, enabling them to move on into full-time employment.

Thirdly, this project is proving to be capable of making an increasingly valuable contribution to the sustainability of the Trust in providing a valuable source of income from the sale of high quality beef and lamb, supplemented by the sale of eggs from our Free Range flock. We are very excited about the future potential of this very special 'Farm with a Difference'!

Developing the project
Over the past five or six years we have been establishing our herd of Longhorn cattle and our flock of White Faced Woodland sheep, breeding for both temperament, to try to make sure that we have kind and gentle animals which are as safe as possible to work with, and also for conformation, to try to ensure that we produce the best quality beef and lamb that we are able.

Why is this project so important?

The therapeutic value for those in our care:
It is impossible to overstate the value of the agricultural project for many very damaged men and women in the care of the Trust.

For those who have been abused, either within their own families or by others, starting to trust again can be all but impossible. Almost everyone in our care has been let down by either family or systems which should have safeguarded them, and we are trying to help them develop self respect, in some cases seeking to give people a reason just to carry on living. Building a relationship with an animal, being needed by an animal, helping with lambing or calving, feeding an animal rejected by its mother or orphaned at birth: all of this can be a truly remarkable and powerful therapy in the most damaged of lives.

Helping a vulnerable person develop a sense of self-esteem, enabling someone to succeed instead of failing at everything, every time: these are the issues that we address on a daily basis, the mountains we climb and the battles we win, every day, on our agricultural project at Caring For Life. These are the things we want to see happen with those in our care.

Simply caring for another creature often enables an individual to look beyond their own problems and to focus on something positive. The fact that an animal needs feeding and care helps a person to feel needed, and simply that fact makes an enormous difference, in some cases, a 'life saving' difference.

Again, just working with such wonderful creatures can in itself be immensely fulfilling and rewarding. Seeing new life each year is amazing, so lambing and calving times are two of the most exciting times of year. The men and women working on the project are very proud of 'their' newborn calves and lambs!

Literally enabling people and animals to meet is a powerful therapeutic tool.

That is why we call our new stock shed the PAM building - People and Animals Meeting.

It is self evident that the benefits of the Agricultural Project at Caring For Life are enormous and will also contribute toward the sustainability of the Trust into the future.

We believe it is crucial that the work of Caring For Life continues and if possible, expands. Referrals of very desperately needy people are received on a daily basis and we cannot take all referrals on board, yet those people may have no one else to whom they can turn.

More supported homes are urgently needed for the most vulnerable men and women, along with more housing support workers.

Working with animals is always the most popular choice out of all the fourteen projects available at Crag House Farm, and with new safe and suitable facilities, project places offer huge pastoral and therapeutic benefits.

But in our new PAM building, those in our care will be meeting more than just animals. Our objective is that in quiet and gentle pastoral encouragement and witness, both staff and volunteers will be able to share our Saviour's love with those in their care, and that lost souls may be able to meet the creator of the animals for which they care, and their creator too; that they may come to meet, know, trust and love our wonderful Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Please pray for this project.

We understand that many people do not appreciate or understand the value of these rural activities, and some are even a little sceptical about the value of our PAM project at Caring For Life. Maybe that is why we have not been able to raise any funds toward this barn, but any gifts from people who might share this vision would be hugely appreciated.