Mount Lodge Farm offers the opportunity for young people and adults with additional needs to engage in fully supervised farming related activities.

Our farm members have the opportunity to work together carrying out meaningful and therapeutic tasks on the farm. Learning to care for our livestock and growing and caring for vegetables and flowers emphasizes the importance of healthy eating, hygiene and exercise. Working as a group, our members improve their social skills, tolerance of others and have an important role within the group and the farm environment. And most importantly they meet new friends and have lots of fun!

Discovering – Opportunities and new friends
Learning – New skills and interests
Developing – Confidence and self-esteem

Our animals provide the farm members with great hands on experience while caring for and learning about the daily needs of the animals and also the general maintenance of the farm.

The farm has over 100 sheep, including Pedigree Black Welsh Mountain Ewes and Rams, Pure bred Texel Ewes and Rams, Texel X and Romney sheep. We breed the sheep for showing at agricultural shows, including Kent County Show, Heathfield Agricultural Show and Edenbridge and Oxted Agricultural Show. Our Young Farmers Club members show in these shows as part of the National Federation of Young Farmers, as well as our Adults in the mainline.

The Pedigree sheep we breed are sold as breeding ewes and rams and we also produce our own homebred lamb and mutton, which we sell from the farm.

Our resident Ponies include a New Forest pony called Topper, a Shetland pony called George and soon will include two Shetland/small pony foals called Vera and Oona. We also have two Donkeys called Ned and Eeyore, which were lifelong loaned to the farm from the Donkey Sanctuary.

As well as sheep and ponies, the farm has bought and loaned calves from our local Hinxden Dairy for our Young Farmers Club members to show at agricultural shows, which has proved successful.