June 2024 edition - written by Sam Dodd in conversation with Ursula Carey-Jenkins

Farm Worker Sam sat down with Volunteer Manager Ursula to talk about Volunteer Week 2024 (3rd-9th June) and the volunteer programme she has built here at the farm. In 2023 we overhauled our volunteer offering at the farm to reach more people, make it more accessible, and increase the benefits of volunteering here – funded as a three-year post by the National Lottery. Ursula has been in post for just over a year at the time of writing, and has transformed the programme into something the farm is very proud of. Sam has written this piece as if in Ursula’s voice.

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The SCF Volunteer Programme - History & Recent Changes

Generally, the feedback that our external evaluator has gathered so far from our wonderful volunteer cohort since the programme overhaul began, is that volunteering feels more organised, the tasks feel more directed, and their efforts feel more valued. We have done this in a number of ways: we hold more regular volunteer meetups and parties so they can all meet each other and socialise (they come in on different days); we take the time to thank every volunteer at the end of their day before they leave; we provide lunch on site and a uniform, which we didn’t offer before and we know helps people feel like they really belong; we have a handbook now; we do an induction and a two-month check-in to find out how they’re doing and whether we can do anything better; and we send out a bi-monthly volunteer newsletter which is helping people feel more included and up to date on what is happening site-wide. This is also empowering for them when visitors ask questions, as they have the answers without having to come and search for a member of staff. We want our volunteers to really feel like they have a stake in their farm, and are in included in decision making.

We are also diversifying our volunteer pool. We receive referrals from Daniel Gilbert House next door, a service and hostel for people who experience drug and alcohol misuse; local NHS services; the Brady Centre who primarily run services for Bengali women – and many other local services recommending us to individuals who may need a bit more support. We have a new monthly group for survivors of domestic abuse, and a twice-monthly profoundly Deaf group using the site too. It is also now much easier to apply – one application form only, and the referral process is simpler for services too. We usually prioritise individuals and groups from underrepresented or socially vulnerable groups. We have more younger volunteers now – historically we have mostly had older volunteers, and we are still very lucky to have several who have been with us a very long time – over ten years, some almost twenty. Last year we awarded them a long service. These people were Bev, Mark, Frank, and Evelyn.

A special shout-out for Dan – you’re always in super early to care for the morning needs of our animals, and we appreciate you!

Volunteer Week 2024: 3rd-9th June

Volunteer Week is a nationwide celebration of volunteers everywhere, platforming the efforts they go to nationally to sustain our country. The farm is profiling one or more of our volunteers every day of this week on our social media accounts, throwing a party for them on Friday 7th, and they all get a thank you card personalised to them, their skills, and their contributions.

We celebrate our volunteers because they are the backbone to this farm and integral to the space. If they weren’t here, we wouldn’t be able to open to the public, because we couldn’t maintain the space safely enough. They are utterly invaluable. We also couldn’t produce food in the ways we do, or foster the social cohesion we see here at the farm.

 The Value of Volunteering – here and at a national scale

Our farm volunteers are from lots of varied backgrounds, and this can probably be extrapolated to many more organisations that run volunteer programmes nationally, as it is very likely a lot of infrastructure and certainly free public spaces that we all enjoy, would collapse were it not for volunteers generously giving their time.

A lot of our volunteers come here because they struggle socially, want to meet people, have mental health issues, or find it difficult leaving the house. Many others are older, retired, or want to give back to the community because they work/ed a corporate job. That smelting pot of different learning styles, cultures, backgrounds and lived experience, is absolutely essential for social cohesion. We live in a very polarised society, with echo chambers everywhere. A space like this challenges that. It is also free to volunteer, so it is not transactional. Again, something that feels like a rarity these days.

Future Plans for SCF Volunteering

We are always working on our diversity here at the farm, so that work is ongoing and embedded into the three-year plan of the grant. I also want to focus on the community outreach aspect of the role more too now that the main regular programme has levelled out. We’ve started this with the domestic abuse group and the profoundly Deaf group, but there is more work to do in this area – if any readers know of any local East End social groups who might be interested, please send us an email!

We are so very grateful to our volunteers. Since 1978 they have kept us going. Happy Volunteer Week everyone!

If you have read this and are interested in joining the volunteer programme here at the farm, there is currently a waiting list, so give us a follow on Instagram and turn notifications on, so that you find out when applications open up again. We will also add it to our bi-monthly newsletter when this happens.

Credit for images: Ursula Carey-Jenkins