What Why When

East Clayton farm is owned by the National Trust. In 2005 Lorica obtained a long lease. The farm had not been in productive use for a number of years prior to this and both the buildings and the land had fallen into disrepair and neglect. The vision for the project is to restore East Clayton on several fronts. We are working to revitalize the land and enable productive use to be made of it again. The outbuildings of the farm will be converted into eight independent living units for profoundly disabled young adults. The substantial barns adjacent to the farm will be converted into facilities for respite care and the farmhouse itself will be restored and used for offices, communal use, and use for a rural enterprise scheme. These restorative initiatives all sit comfortably together and will ensure that the farm becomes a productive, thriving community.

Since obtaining the lease much progress has been made. Pioneering plans have been put together to convert the courtyard into eight independent units. Social Services have identified individuals to take co ownership of the units once they are ready – hopefully by autumn 2008. MiLife will be working with future residents before they move in, to ensure that care is tailor made to suit each individual.

The farm house has had essential repair work done on it and several rooms restored to a useable condition to use as office space. Work will shortly begin to completely restore the lovely old building and put it to use as office space, communal and education space for residents and accommodation for a Rural Enterprise Scheme.

Permission will be sought to convert the barns into respite care facilities. The aim would to be to make respite care a great experience that visitors benefit from. This facility will be available for local use for those with disabilities. The barns will also provide a facility for family to stay on site.

The 120 acres that comprise the farm have been put into a Countryside Stewardship Scheme. The land is not naturally productive – the higher ground is very sandy and the lower ground heavy clay. The Countryside Stewardship Scheme, run by DEFRA enables us to maximize the conservation value of the land. To this end the whole farm has been re sown with native species of grasses – allowing it to be grazed by sheep and cattle again. Three long hedge lines have been planted to divide the large fields into smaller units and to create wildlife corridors. Hay crops have been taken from the large fields, and attempts are being made to restore some parts of the land to heathland. Some of the overgrown woodland has been cleared. The old fence lines, which were no longer stock proof, have been cleared and new fences put in. All this activity has resulted in an increase in bird and insect numbers on the farm and in an increase in the diversity of plant species. One of the smaller fields supported large numbers of pyramid orchids this year – lovely to see.

As part of the Stewardship scheme, permissive access has been established around Jockey’s Meadow  - the land owned by the farm in Washington Village. This allows the local community to enjoy walking around the field.

In many of these endeavors we have been supported by groups of volunteers – to whom we are most grateful. The farm have benefited from the work put in by groups from HSBC, EDF and AMMEX. We have also been supported by the Green Gym and by groups from local Churches. The National Trust have continued to be actively supportive and many of the work activities on the farm have been undertaken under the expert guidance of the local Warden.

A small parcel of land has been kept out of the Stewardship scheme. Fifteen acres behind the farmhouse has been set aside for the use of those living at and visiting the farm. This area provides a wonderful opportunity to use the land for outdoor activities appropriate to the level of disabilities.