Three BBIH staff took eight of our students for a five-day residential trip to Monmouth, Wales. We lived and worked on a farm from Monday night to Friday morning… and none of the students were allowed any digital or electronic devices!

Jamie’s farm is a charity that works with young people, providing a “life-swap”; we leave behind our mobile phones, fizzy drinks, sugary and processed food, and instead adopt a lifestyle of chopping logs, washing horses, feeding pigs and having big, hearty home cooked meals around a huge farmhouse table.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are prepared and served by the students (with guidance from the farmers). Much of the food is grown and harvested on the farm, or other ‘Jamie’s Farms’ that are dotted around the country. The farm staff do a fantastic job at catering for all our students cultural, religious and dietary needs.

Each day begins at 7.30 where we head to the farmhouse for a morning tea and piece of fruit before heading out to work the various jobs across the farm (this is a real, working farm after all!) Sheep need counting, lambs need specific medicine, food or water, chickens need to be let out of the coup (and rogue great-escape chickens need to rescued!).

The farm staff have a therapeutic approach to everything they do. Students are given many opportunities to reflect deeply and purposefully about their life; is working in nature something they want to aspire towards? What challenges have they overcome on the farm? What values will they bring home with them?

This year, we were fortunate enough to explore some of the local rivers, and a highlight for all involved was getting all staff and students wild swimming in the river Wye by Tregate Bridge. We were even joined by a family of baby rams who came to drink from the river whilst we were skimming stones, petting toads and chasing tiny fish. We also explored the ruins of White Castle which is roughly 1000 years old. The views were spectacular.

Downtime is spent playing board games, ball games or just chatting in the shade. Many students built and strengthened relationships with their peers and tutors.

This trip was a substantial but rewarding challenge for students and their families. Five days without a mobile phone is no easy task, for many this would have been their first time experiencing such a dramatic life swap. The final evening was spent with (vegan) marshmallows round a campfire overlooking a valley as the sun set. I doubt any students will forget these experiences for a very long time.