WHEN the children escape their towns and cities for a week of muck and magic at Nethercott House in Iddesleigh, near Winkleigh, they have the opportunity to experience a huge range of activities, from donkey grooming and feeding the pigs to collecting eggs and apple juicing – and therein lies the problem!
Nethercott has sadly not been blessed with a fruitful apple harvest this autumn, and so the charity, Farms for City Children, needs your help!
Elsewhere in the local area, the orchards seem to have struggled less.
A spokesperson for the charity said: "If you are fortunate enough to have a happy and healthy apple-filled orchard, Farms for City Children is asking if you have any apples to donate to ensure the children can carry on juicing throughout the season.
"They often take the rewards of their juicing home with them to share with friends and family, which is an important part of the experience – this is just one aspect of the week that helps the children to bond with their peers and to boost their self-esteem.
"If you would like to donate your apples to Nethercott House, please contact the Farm Manager, Mike, on 01837 810025 or email him at: [email protected] .
"The staff at Nethercott can collect the apples from your home in the immediate area."
Farms for City Children was founded in 1976 by Michael and Clare Morpurgo in order to give urban children from all over the country, a unique opportunity to live and work together for a week at a time on a real farm, in the heart of the countryside.
Forty years on, Farms for City Children is still providing an intense “learning through doing” experience of a different life for children who may not know where their food comes from and have limited opportunities to explore the outside world.
Since 1976, more than 80,000 children have spent a week at one of the three farms - one in Devon, one in Wales and one in Gloucestershire – and they continue to welcome nearly 3,250 eight-to-11 year-old, primary school children every year from towns and cities across the UK.