The Children’s Centre’s Community Farm has received a ?120,000 donation from Manx Mencap to help develop activities for people with disabilities. Over three years, this money will be used to fund a full-time post and to develop facilities and activities for people with disabilities at the Community Farm. The new Inclusion Officer will develop accredited programmes for young adults, develop a supported volunteer scheme, build partnerships with other third sector disability organisations, and create placement schemes and programmes for special education units within schools.
Chrissy Cannell, Farm Team Leader, said:
“We’re extremely grateful to Manx Mencap for this generous donation. It will allow us to make the Community Farm more accessible and create learning and development opportunities for people with disabilities. We hope to have an Inclusion Officer in place by April this year, and once we have worked with them to assess the best ways to implement projects for disabled people we will begin to roll out the programme during the summer. A crucial part of this process will be for us to reach out to groups which represent disabled people, and to individuals, to discuss their ideas regarding what we can do at the Community Farm to benefit them.”
Chrissy is keen to hear from interested groups or individuals regarding developing facilities and activities for disabled people at the Farm.
Since the Community Farm began in January 2011 staff and volunteers have been creating a nurturing and educational environment, helping people grow whilst reconnecting with the countryside. The Farm is open to the Island’s community and offers an increasing range of services to meet the community’s need. It is a charitable project run by The Children’s Centre and relies on donations and voluntary workers to be able to deliver its services.
For more details about the Community Farm Inclusion Officer vacancy go to http://www.thechildrenscentre.org.im/work-with-us/vacancies/ or call Chrissy, Farm Team Leader, on 610540 or chrissycannell@thechildrenscentre.org.im.
The closing date for applications is February 4.
