A farm, run by the community for the community

Farm News

OPEN DAY 2010 13th June
Record Attendance

Our 19th Annual Open Day (Supported For Operating Costs by Ernst & Young) once again enjoyed dry sunny weather and for the first time we counted the number of visitors rather than making an estimate. We entertained an amazing 1,127 people ! Those who attended enjoyed up to five hours of family fun including Loony Lenny, the childrens' entertainer and two excellent Punch and Judy Shows by Kris Krendo.

The main marquees housed a record number of stalls including; both a general Tombola (top prize a meal for two in The Mailbox ) and a bottle Tombola , cakes and home made lemonade, greetings cards, silk flower arrangements, balloons and fancy goods, home made preserves, Sturmans Ltd - our local animal feedstuffs supplier, a local community stall, OPAL nature on your doorstep stand, the Woodgate Valley and Bartley Green History Group, a comprehensive plant and general bargains stall and last but not least an educational stand by our resident honorary beekeepers with information about beekeeping and fun activities for the youngsters.

Of course there was the ever popular non-stop bouncy castle, and in another marquee an all day Childrens' Workshop where Andy & Jan Casserly helped dozens of youngsters to create music on a variety of percussion and other instruments. The refreshment facility with a choice of cakes and slices of gateaux, snacks and warm and cold drinks, did a roaring trade. For those with any pocket money remaining there was always the permanent on site Bazaar to dip into for toys, bric a brac and books. The event was supported by the Wyre Forest Lifeline Ambulance which also provided a first aid service. This was all set off with the melodious sounds of the Accordian Ensemble, who gave three performances during the afternoon. Many thanks to all our volunteers, supporters, visitors and contributors, without whom the event could not have been so successful.

P.S. Next years Open Day is Sunday 12th June 2011

Vacancy for:
Saturday Supervisor (Community Payback)
Hours: 0900 until 1600 Every Saturday
Salary £71 per day. (Currently Until 31st March 2011)

Please contact us for an application form and full job description if you can demonstrate the following Person Spec.
Essential Criteria:

• An experience of supervising and motivating a throughput of Adults in outdoor manual work
• An ability to work with Trustees to an existing management plan for groundworks and wildlife site improvements
• An understanding of the community sector, and of working with Offenders

Strict Application Process is as follows:
Send a C.V to WVUF Company Office, 12 Doulton Close, B32 2XF OR Telephone: 0121 426 1871 and request an Application Form and details giving your name and full postal address (answerphone may operate) OR e-Mail us on: wvurbanfarm@yahoo.co.uk giving your full postal address.
Please note: the issue and return of applications is intended to be strictly via surface mail and not via email

Reiki for Animals: An Exploration

Saturday 21st August 2010 (10.30 am - 4.30 pm) with Reiki Master Kate Jones. Following the success of the Reiki day at Woodgate last August, we are pleased to offer another opportunity this year. If you have learned Reiki and would like to know more about helping our animal friends with Reiki this workshop is for you!.With a variety of animals to practice with, Woodgate Valley Urban Farm is the ideal place for this exploration. We hope to be able to treat rabbits, hens and goats. The Course will be led by Reiki Master Kate Jones, who has been teaching Reiki for over 18 years and has a special interest in helping animals with Reiki techniques. For details go to The Reiki Dojo

Ernst & Young (Partnership) 2010

We are pleased to announce that Ernst & Young LLP have adopted the Urban Farm as one of two charities they are supporting for the 2010 calendar year as part of the Company's Community Partnership Initiative.

Activities and support so far has included Team Days at the Farm in our Orchard and Wildlife Area

• The first was on 26th March when five employees created and planted a new feature shrub area in the Orchard to screen the beehives and also refurbished and tidied two other beds. They did a wonderful job bearing in mind the very wet Spring we had and the fact that part of the work area was seriously waterlogged

• The second and third were on 6th and 13th May when larger teams of ten employees carried out some valuable work in another part of the Orchard to create paved and loose stone pathways around three raised beds which had been created by Volunteers on the CNSW Programme. This was really heavy work involving transporting a succession of barrowloads of sand and stone chippings from hundreds of yards away, and laying slabs. None of the Team had laid slabs before, and some were strangers to pushing a barrow, but when they went home that night most of them were experts!

• A fourth Team Day is planned for 30th July to complete this major task, and other projects are in the pipeline for August and November.
• Two of the Urban Farm Trustees were invited to attend the Ernst & Young 'Town Hall Day' along with other organisations in partnership, on 30th April to display a stall showing the Charities activities. This was an enjoyable early morning activity, complicated only by the fact that it was held in the Holte Suite at the Aston Villa Ground and one of the Trustees had to wear a bag over his head in case any fellow Bluenose spotted him!

• In addition, employes of Ernst and Young have been busy collecting and donating monies via 'dress down days' and other Head office initiatives and activities, and E & Y as a Company have already made a generous matched donation.Funding also met the full £850 cost of staging the Open Day.

We look forward to the remaining months of the Partnership.

NPower (Partnership)

Much valued support from the Partnership continued into a fourth year when a team of fifteen keen employees gathered at the Farm on 25th June and did some sterling work in the front paddock, completing an area of paving around the central gateway, laying hardcore around the new Hay and Straw Store, and sprucing up two of our brick former stable units with a smart coat of white masonry paint. The weather was dry (a bonus because on their last visit it poured with rain) and the whole team seemed to enjoy the experience. We have certainly gained much needed improvemnts to the main visitor areas of the Project. Many thanks for their hard work and good company.

CADBURY'S BUTTONS FUN ON THE FARM EVENT A SWEET SUCCESS!

The Cadbury Fun Event hosted by the Urban Farm on Bank Holiday Monday 25th May, 2009 and Tuesday 26th May, 2009 was a sell out occasion. Although it was a free event, it was all ticket, and all tickets were issued. Almost 1,800 people attended across the two days and enjoyed an extravaganza of entertainment and hands on activity.

Puppet shows, karaoke, arts and crafts, colouring, biscuit making, story telling, face painting,and a commando style adventure climbing zone were among the activities available to families all day long, and the site was visited by lifesize animals who posed for pictures with visitors including a penguin, pig, panda monkey and a wise owl. Hungry and thirsty visitors were tempted with a mouth watering selection of barbecue dishes and salad, and a variety of warm and cold drinks.

Everyone went away with a complimentary souvenir photograph, and a goody bag containing amongst other things a colouring book, an animal mask and of course a bag of Cadbury's Buttons!

A spokesman for Cake Entertainment, who produced the Show on behalf of Cadbury's said : "This has exceeded all our expectations in terms of visitor numbers. Your community has turned out in force to support this event which has been a great success"

A Trustee for the Urban Farm said : " Hosting this free event for the local community has been a pleasure and it was wonderful to see so many families having the opportunity of enjoying a free day out in these difficult financial times"

The" Buttons Fun On The Farm" Roadshow moved on to other Member City/Urban Farms within the Federation of City Farms & Community Gardens Movement for various dates throughout May and June in London,Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Middlesbrough, Gateshead, Bath, and Leicester.

For further information and pictures of the two day event in Birmingham at Woodgate Valley Urban Farm, and pictures of the event at other City Farms, visit www.buttonsfunonthefarm.co.uk

New School Information Pack
Our long awaited schools information pack aimed at primary age children is now fully in use. This piece of important work was done in partnership and funded by Ashley's Ark; a charity set up in memory of Ashley Sammons a teenager from Norfolk who loved animals. The information pack is available as part of booked school visits, or at a modest charge to visitors. To find out more about Ashley's Ark please visit: www.ashleysark.org

To book a school or play scheme visit, please email