How An Organic Farm Is Promoting Confidence In Troubled Kids

James Livingstone used to come home from school every afternoon and get drunk. When he was 15, he stopped going to school altogether. Until 10 weeks ago, he was living with his dad in a small town near Edinburgh.

Except, that is, when they had a row and his dad threw him out of the house, forcing him to sleep rough. “My life was rubbish,” he says. “I was sleeping in the streets, drinking all the time, and getting into trouble with the police.”

Now 17, James is one of 14 youngsters living on an organic farm at the foot of the Pentland hills. As well as providing a home for people who might otherwise have been on the streets, the Edinburgh Cyrenians farm raises revenue from the sale of organic eggs, honey and soft fruit, and is well on the way to becoming a thriving social enterprise.

James has no delusions about what his life would have been like if he had not been referred to the farm by his social worker. “I’d probably be an alcoholic,” he says. “Now I’m more confident and more active, and I feel healthier. I’ve cut down my drinking, and I feel like I might be able to go to college.”

The farm is home to eight young people at risk of long-term homelessness. Some have mental health problems or learning difficulties; many have a history of abuse, addiction and run-ins with the criminal justice system. A handful of residents apply for their places directly, but most, like James, are referred by social work departments. They live with six young volunteers, deliberately recruited from all over the world to make the farm community as diverse as possible.

Rachel Helms, the project manager of the farm, says: “Our culture is 14 young people living together as a community, rather than as passive recipients of services. That’s why we ask people to become actively involved in running the place, instead of treating it as a waiting room for somewhere else.”

As a result, residents take complete responsibility for housework, budgeting and shopping – and dealing with the inevitable conflict that goes with communal living. There are also plenty of animals to look after. The farm is home to chickens, lambs, sheep and bees, and everyone mucks in.

For young people from an overwhelmingly urban background, the challenge of dealing with new experiences – from the birth of baby lambs in the spring to a flock of birds clucking around their ankles – also gives them the confidence that they can cope with whatever comes their way.

Everyone sits down to eat together twice a day. It is an organic idyll, with an endless supply of freshly laid free-range eggs and rows of fresh salad waiting to be plucked from the farm’s polytunnels. But, if all that goodness gets too much, there are chicken nuggets in the fridge and a chip shop nearby.

Education and training is an important part of the project. Two residents have been doing work placements on the farm under the New Deal programme, and the farm is also developing links with a college to enable the young people to earn accredited enterprise qualifications.

Most importantly, the Cyrenians farm does not see itself as a short-term panacea. Unlike a city hostel, which might give someone a bed for three months, the farm can provide a home for several years. In that time, residents learn to deal with their behavioural and emotional problems and gain the basic skills they will need when they have a home of their own.

“It might have taken someone 17 years to get to the point that they’re homeless, so there aren’t any quick fix solutions. Here, we do things slowly, and we do them by looking at the basics,” says Rachel.

Over the next few years, the farm aims to raise half its income from its commercial operations, including the sale of fresh produce to local organisations and health food shops. It also offers team bonding days for city firms, with employees working together to plant hedgerows or build a new polytunnel.

After 10 weeks at the farm, James is keen to apply to go to college. “If I like it, I could go to university,” he says. He has also considered becoming a plumber. But whatever he chooses to do, he has definitely got a taste for country living. “I’d like to live in a big mansion,” he says, “in the middle of nowhere.”