Youngsters can try out a toy tractor course and win prizes in produce competitions at an open day being held at The Children’s Centre’s Community Farm this weekend [September 29th]. The Farm, based at Wallberry Farm on the Carnane Estate off the Old Castletown Road in Douglas, held its first open days in the spring and attracted more than 1,100 visitors. The events proved so popular that another free open day is being organised with even more fun attractions.
The latest open day will include stalls, craft displays, a welly throwing tournament, and refreshments provided by the Women’s Institute. A life-size model cow will be used to show visitors how to milk a cow by hand. A range of produce competitions will be organised for adults and children. Youngsters can enter competitions for cupcakes, creating mini gardens in containers, or making animals out of fruit or vegetables. For adults and children there are competitions to make cakes, shortbread, jam, marmalade, chutney and honey. To enter the produce competitions visitors must bring their produce to The Community Farm before 11am on the day. As well as all of these events the open day will give a chance for everyone to see a variety of animals on the farm including pigs, rabbits, guinea pigs, the farm dog and farm cats and Juan the donkey.
Visitors will be able to find out more about the range of projects which help the Island’s community including the Cultivation project which is the Social Enterprise Hub based at The Community Farm that provides training for young people who are not in education, employment or on other training programmes.
Chrissy Cannell, Farm Development Officer, said The Community Farm team are looking forward to welcoming many more visitors at the next open day. She said:
“We had a fantastic response to our open days on March 30 and April 1 so we wanted to organise another event to allow more people to see what we do at The Community Farm and have a fun day out in the process. One of our main aims at The Community Farm is to allow children to learn about the rural community and to devise fun ways for them to discover how farms work. As well as being fun many of the events at the open day have an educational aspect to them.”
The open day is on Saturday September 29 from 10am to 3.30pm. As there is no parking at The Community Farm those travelling to the open day by car are asked to leave their vehicles at Kewaigue School car park. There is no fee for parking and there will be a free shuttle bus service from the car park to The Community Farm every 15 minutes. Since The Community Farm project began in January 2011 staff and volunteers have been creating an environment in which children and young people from across the Island can learn, from practical experience, the skills needed to care for animals and to grow crops.
The farm also has workshops where children learn skills that will be put to good use in maintaining and repairing farm tools and machinery. The Community Farm is a charitable project run by The Children’s Centre and relies on donations and voluntary workers supporting the project. All edible produce exhibited in the open day shows will be sold to raise funds for the farm. All non-edible exhibits will be returned to their owners.
For more information about The Community Farm go to http://www.thechildrenscentre.org.im/what-we-do/community-farm/ or contact Chrissy Cannell, Farm Development Officer, on 610540 or by emailing farm@thechildrenscentre.org.im.
Photo captions
One - Children helping to look after pigs at The Community Farm. Visitors at the farm’s open weekend will be able to see the pigs and other animals and take part in a range of fun events.
Two - Juan the donkey who will be welcoming visitors to The Community Farm open day on September 29.
