🌻 Our Mission 🌻
At the Sunflower Community Care Farm, our mission is to create a safe, happy, calm, and nurturing environment where everyone feels valued.
We support adults with mental health challenges, such as anxiety or depression, and those with disabilities to:
- Engage in purposeful, hands-on activities
- Connect with animals in a positive, non-judgmental way
- Take part in growing, nurturing, and harvesting fruits and vegetable
All activities are carried out with care for the environment and consideration for others.
📋 Safety & Standards
We maintain high standards of health, safety, and care, including:
- Staff trained to work with our client groups
- Clear health and safety signage
- A Vulnerable Persons Protection Policy
- Feedback and evaluation procedures
- Emergency procedures and contact lists
- Trained first aid personnel on site
- Comprehensive risk assessments for the site and all activities
- Maintained health and safety records
- Written disciplinary, dismissal, and complaints procedures
- All necessary insurance coverage
🕙 Session Details
- Times: 10 am – 3 pm
- Frequency: 48 weeks per year
- Group size: Small groups for tailored support
The first seeds for The Sunflower Community Care Farm were sown in September 2015, when a visit to a care farm showed us the wide-ranging benefits of being outside, nurturing plants, and caring for animals.
In May 2016, those seeds began to grow. A small group of us decided to explore the possibility of setting up our own care farm.
After months of research and planning, we became a registered Community Interest Company (not-for-profit) on 10th November 2016, and opened our community bank account — the first glimpse of new shoots from our seeds.
🌿 Finding Our Home
In the summer of 2017, we discovered Neepawa Cottage in Capel St Andrew — a beautiful three-and-a-half-acre farm with direct access to Rendlesham Forest.
We moved in November 2017, and within days, we were welcoming our first participants from Wots Up Day Service in Ipswich. By April 2018, we were accredited by the County Council, became members of Social Farms & Gardens (incorporating Care Farms UK), and gained CEVAS accreditation for educational visits.
🌻 A Permanent Home
In July 2023, we moved to The Homestead in Snape Watering, giving the Care Farm a permanent home. All of our participants moved with us, and since then, new participants have joined, and we’ve welcomed another miniature Shetland pony, Magic, to our Care Farm family.
🌟 Growing Together
From a simple idea to a thriving care farm, our journey has been about connecting people, animals, and nature. Each step has been guided by our mission to provide a safe, calm, and nurturing environment where everyone feels valued.
🌿 Accredited & Trusted
We are proud to be a member of Social Farms & Gardens (incorporating Care Farms UK) and follow their Code of Conduct. We are also accredited by Suffolk County Council as a service provider for adults and by CEVAS (Countryside Educational Visits Accreditation Scheme – Therapeutic).
All staff and volunteers are DBS checked and have completed Safeguarding training, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for everyone.
🌻 What we do at a care farm session
Our care farm offers a natural sense of calm with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, where everyone can benefit from the therapeutic use of farming practices — including working with animals and growing fruits and vegetables.
All activities are delivered in a safe, structured, and supervised programme, designed for small groups of up to 6 participants per day, running 50 weeks of the year. We provide a 1:3 staff-to-participant ratio, and if you feel you may need extra support, you are welcome to bring your own carer.
We welcome adults with disabilities and mental health challenges.
🌱 Benefits of Participating
By joining our care farm sessions, participants can:
- Gain confidence, independence, and resilience
- Boost self-esteem and a sense of purpose
- Feel worthy, useful, and valued
Every activity is designed to help people connect with nature, animals, and community, while providing structure, achievement, and therapeutic benefits.
🐰 Activities Include:
Depending on the group and the season, participants may take part in:
- Animal care: Feed the animals, collect eggs, groom horses and goats, dust chickens for mites, clip goats’ hooves, clean out the animals
- Farm chores: Mow grass, weed beds, sweep the tack room, clean tack, clear branches from the goat field
- Planting & gardening: Plant vegetables, water plants in the greenhouse, harvest crops
- Walking & exercise: Walk the dogs, goats, and ponies; walk goats to eat weeds
Each task is hands-on, purposeful, and rewarding, giving participants the chance to learn skills, contribute, and experience the satisfaction of seeing results.
Our farm is home to a variety of animals, including:
Horses & ponies
Rabbits & chickens
Goats, dogs & cats
Fish and other wildlife around our pond
The relationship between humans and horses is particularly restorative, offering participants a unique therapeutic connection.
While there are plenty of hands-on activities to keep us busy throughout the day, we also value taking time out — whether it’s petting an animal or listening to our chickens cooing happily. These quiet moments are an important part of the therapeutic experience at the farm.
