Henry Bloom Noble Trust has funded the refurbishment of an outbuilding at The Children’s Centre farm that will provide a store and workshop for bikes, a ceramics studio and a new ’talking room’.

The talking room is where a member of staff from the Children’s Centre can meet with the children and their parents and discuss both issues and progress.

It is wheelchair accessible with three chairs grouped around a coffee table with a top that can be raised to provide a surface on which to sign documents.

’It’s quite an intimate space where we can have tough conversations with parents and difficult conversations with the children,’ says Joff Whitten from the Children’s Centre.

All the children who attend the Children’s Centre are referred by parents, their school, a GP or other family members.

’All of the young people we work with will come to us for about a year. But we cannot help everyone and unfortunately there is a waiting list - which we are doing our best to reduce,’ says Joff.

The farm has plenty of capacity and a wide range of facilities and activities and Joff adds that he is limited only by the number of staff they can afford to employ: ’The more staff I have, the more I can do,’ he says.

There are three areas he and his team work with: those with learning difficulties and disabilities such as ADHD and Asperger’s; those with mental health issues such as anxiety, and those with behavioural issues, the ’naughty schoolchild’ who can’t sit down, can’t listen to instructions, and maybe indulges in some risk taking behaviours.

’All three areas are more often than not connected: kids that are naughty tend to have low self-esteem and possibly have ADHD.

’We pick the most pronounced one to deal with. If they’re in one of our "Adventure groups" it’s all about behaviour, if they’re in a "Nurture group" it’s all about emotional difficulties,’ says Joff.

The children have a chance to help look after the farm’s animals, which include three pigs, two donkeys, two goats, some chickens and some Indian Runner ducks. They can help out with the growing of fruit and vegetables, or help in the kitchen, making chutneys and jams from their produce.

Then there are the mountain bike rides where they go out in groups of six over land around the farm, and the technology room which has computers, 3D printers and video film equipment.

All the activities have a deeper purpose: the children may be learning practical skills and how to work with others, but they are also gaining confidence and maybe gaining some insights into why they feel or behave as they do.

Joff explains: ’It’s a misunderstanding that we reward naughty kids with kayaking: it’s not that way round, it’s about challenging them

’If you’ve got a kid who’s a bit ’cock of the walk’ and the ’tough person’, and you put them on a mountain bike on a relatively steep trail and they don’t want to go down it, it’s because they’re actually nervous or scared and so it’s an interesting little journey to work through.

’It’s giving them the right kind of confidence, finding out what suits their problem and finding a solution to that problem.’

Terry Groves, chairman of the Henry Bloom Noble Healthcare Trust, praised the work done with the children at the farm, saying: ’Perhaps in days gone by society has been too quick to label children without really understanding the causes that may lie behind difficult behaviour, being withdrawn or socially challenged.

’We can see the work and effort being made here at The Children’s Centre to find the root cause and that is undoubtedly helping these young people who are referred to the centre to be able to lead fulfilling lives as they grow on.’

Joff says: ’We are incredibly grateful to the Henry Bloom Noble Trust for the support they have given us. The specific area of the farm they have supported completes our courtyard project. I would love to invite everyone on island to come and see what we have at the farm as it’s a wonderful resource and one I hope everyone on island can feel proud of. The work we are doing is truly cutting edge 21st Century therapeutic learning and support. I was very excited to meet the trustees of HBN as we have very similar shared values and they understood completely the kind of work we are doing with children, young people and families. Our sincere thanks, and thanks from the families we work with."

l One of The Children’s Centre’s recent success stories has been a boy with selective mutism and social/generalised anxiety who has been attending the farm for the last year. His younger sister, six year old Amelie, decided that she wanted to say thank you to the centre for supporting her brother and her family and decided to raise some money for them by taking on her own challenge, to walk 100 miles during the summer holidays.

If you are able to support and donate to Amelie’s challenge, no matter how small, you will find Amelie’s JustGiving page at http://www.justgiving.com/Donna-Richardson12