6 March 2019.
The Young Adult Program runs during the week at our day centre in Invermay, Launceston. Every Friday, the team love to get out of the city and over to the outskirts of Launceston where staff member Angus has access to a farm filled with animals and luscious gardens.
Together with support from the staff, the clients swap their day centre activities for a day of cuddling farm animals, maintaining the vegetable gardens and collecting eggs from the chickens. Later in the year, there are even plans to beginning rearing piglets.
The Young Adult Program has been visiting the farm as a regular activity for four years and it is a hugely loved part of the program. As well as learning skills in harvesting and cooking, the team gets firsthand knowledge about fresh and healthy food, nature and the outdoors. The activities that everyone undertakes together teaches invaluable skills in communicating, taking turns, teamwork and nutrition.
Lachlan has been a part of the Young Adult Program for 18 months and he in particular has developed a keen interest in helping out at the farm. Angus and Lachlan often travel there to work on outdoor projects together, including tending to the gardens and building a lattice wall to protect the vegetable garden from the wind. Lachlan has even titled himself Farm Manager, wearing a high vis vest on his visits!
Lachlan’s next project will be building a pig sty with Angus to house the piglets that will be soon calling the farm home. We can’t wait to see what the ‘Farm Manager’ builds!