MILL Cottage Farm Experience celebrates a decade this month of bringing animals out into the community, in a bid to educate people of all ages about food and farming.

Based in Holybourne, the educational mobile farm experience is the brainchild of Sarah and Tom Main, who launched the business in 2008 when Sarah retired from teaching.

Sarah had been in middle management, teaching mostly maths and science to Year 5 children at a school in Farnham, and Tom was a full-time accountant.

Tom had kept a few animals on a field since he was a young boy, but Sarah had only ever kept goldfish! Nonetheless, she had taken a few animals into school where, she said, “it was obvious there was a big disconnect between farm animals and food”.

“There were mobile farms out there doing lots of hands-on fluffy bunny visits but we wanted to close the gap and make it educational too,” she added.

Sarah said they moved to the smallholding with their dog and the day after were joined by six chickens.

“Within a week, we also had five Poll Dorset sheep,” she said. “Gradually, others have joined us, and now we have a fluctuating population of between 150 and 200 animals (40-80 of that number are birds).”

Nor, when they moved, did they think children would ever arrive, but the couple are now blessed with two – Jonah, 4, and Jemima, 1 – who help with as many tasks as they can.

“Jonah loves collecting the eggs and showing people his favourite chicken. Jemima likes stroking the sheep and chasing the dogs!” said Sarah.

The aim of the business is “to reconnect people – and children in particular – with farm livestock and where food comes from” and, since starting, the farm experience has carried out approximately 2,500 visits to schools, pre-schools, residential care homes, markets, birthday parties and events, and the business has gone from strength to strength.

Sarah said: “When we set up the business, we knew there was a need within the schools for educational visits. We hadn’t appreciated the need in residential care homes, which has been a very rewarding part.

“We have moved away from running courses for fellow smallholders as there are others out there able to devote more time to this. We helped another educational mobile farm start up in Bedfordshire, so we can pass clients out of our area of travel over to them, and vice-versa.

“We now employ one person full time and several others part time on an ad-hoc basis. Lauren Scrivens was our first employee and since she moved on to a full-time job after a couple of years with us, we have enjoyed working with many local people, some who have gone on to train as vets.

“Currently, Hollie Joseph is a much-valued member of the team, with her fiancée, Jack Farr, able to tow the trailers when needed.”

Ten years on, and with a young family, the Mains appear to have found a work-life balance. They both now share the workload, Tom leaning more toward the animal-related care while Sarah tends to do all the administration. They have also kept their professional skills going “just in case”; Tom has a few private accountancy clients and Sarah has a few one-on-one tuition pupils.

Sarah continued: “Having waited for 12 years for the children, we have wanted to devote time to them and so we made the decision to cut down to one trailer Monday to Friday so that one of us could be looking after our children. On Saturdays, we can be running up to three trailers, with the children joining in too. Sundays are always a day of rest for man and beast!”

And of the future, Sarah said: “Unusually for a business, while we can see opportunities to expand and run two or three trailers every day, we are holding back on this as it would lose the personal, family touch for which we are known to our clients. The skills set required for someone to drive a trailer and run a school visit is quite large so it may not be financially viable to expand.

“For us, as long as the mortgage and staff get paid and we have a comfortable lifestyle, we are happy. Things will change as the children get older and we will adapt as we go along. Ten years ago, we never imagined running 300 visits a year Monday to Saturday or having two children to help us, so who knows what the next 10 years might bring.”

When asked about the key things learned over the years, Sarah added: “A key skill is adaptability, being willing to try something and knowing some things will have to be dropped as they are not beneficial to us as a family or the business. A bit like a birth plan, you can have in your head the direction you want the business to go in, but the plan needs to be adaptable depending on the needs and opportunities presented.

“The smallholding lifestyle isn’t an easy one – the hardest time of year is winter, particularly the last few days of biting wind, lambing and frozen water everywhere. You have to be prepared to put all your energies into it at all hours of the day or night. However, we love it and wouldn’t change it.”

To celebrate their 10th anniversary, Sarah and Tom will be bringing many of their spring newborns – lambs, goat kids, chicks and piglets – into Alton town centre from 10am to 2pm on Saturday (March 10) to coincide with the Hampshire farmers’ market on the High Street and the Lions’ craft market on Cross and Pillory Lane and the Market Square. They will be handing out goodies to children and the event is free, to thank the community for their support over the years. However, they would welcome donations on behalf of Alton FoodBank.

For more details about Mill Cottage Farm Experience, call Sarah and Tom Main on 01420 86206, 0771 458 2508 or 0776 115 8174, e-mail [email protected], or visit mcfe.org.uk.