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Voluntary work in Suffolk

Hi All,

I'm looking to go independent soon as I'm sick of the rat race and just want to be outdoors instead of being in a gold fish bowl looking out.

I'm currently doing voluntary work on a small farm in Suffolk on Saturday's, helping out with some feeding and cleaning of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and poultry, but mainly fixing or replacing fences and livestock habitats. It's work I thoroughly enjoy. I get home tired, I ache (and smell according to my Mrs and Kids) but it's very rewarding and for me certainly great for mental health.

Before I really bite the bullet and end a 25 year office based career I want to be as prepared as possible. So, for the next year I'm studying Farm Management and also want to find some willing farms for me to volunteer at at odd hours i.e. early hours 4am to 7am and late night works 10pm on wards..

The reason for the odd hours is that I want to promote my services as a 24 hour service.. I know that I can put a 6am to 6pm day in very easily but I want to experience work outside of this as I'm acutely aware that farming does not work 9-5, also all weather work needs to be a key area of work too, no shying away from rain days etc..

I'm offering voluntary because it is ME that needs something from the farm and as a gesture of gratitude I'd work for free. Due to me keeping my day job (as a systems analyst and software developer) for now I need to keep the travel distance short so that I can spend more time at the farm than travelling so I need to keep it as close to Suffolk as possible.. but all would be considered naturally.

That's it .. if you are still reading.. thank you.. I'm perfectly happy to chat anytime of the day and look forward to any feedback.
 

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Webinar: Expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive offer 2024 -26th Sept

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On Thursday 26th September, we’re holding a webinar for farmers to go through the guidance, actions and detail for the expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer. This was planned for end of May, but had to be delayed due to the general election. We apologise about that.

Farming and Countryside Programme Director, Janet Hughes will be joined by policy leads working on SFI, and colleagues from the Rural Payment Agency and Catchment Sensitive Farming.

This webinar will be...
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