Honey Hope was almost destroyed in Storm Babet, now we have the chance to rebuild our project, and build a brighter future for all.
by Bridget Adams -Shaw in Belper, England, United Kingdom
Once we have raised our target any additional funds will go to further developing the wild life habitat, creating wildlife dwellings for bats, hedgehogs and other 'locals'.
Beyond that developing the other groups and services we offer to allow members of our community can enjoy and be a part of nurturing our natural environment.
In 2024 we are recovering our social farm. You may have seen our huge losses last year, well from the very soggy ashes of near defeat we are rising in a new location, recovering our mental wellbeing and our project, starting with our wild flower nature reserve and apiary.
Repeated flooding after last October means we can not stay where we are. We have lost equipment, hives and a great deal of time and effort in what we had built. But our new site has given us incredible opportunities.
We are really lucky to have found a new home in a neighboring village with possibilities that are huge! And a much lessened risk of flooding. more land and outhouses and stables.
But it means starting again and building from the ground up.
What we do.
Honey Hope is a dedicated wellbeing farm for peer groups of all ages, we teach small holding and equine connection, archery, bushcraft and bee keeping over 8.5 acres in the Amber Valley and Erewash boroughs of Derbyshire.Creating appropriate lived experience staffed peer groups we have several different support programs, ranging from socially isolated youth and adults, to people living with long term mental wellbeing concerns and those in recovery from alcohol or substance mis use. We also engage with people in or at risk of probation measures.By allowing these groups to come together and work on their social skills, learning new skills and dedicating time to building a community of like minded people and a community resource we are recovering own mental wellbeing together. Whilst creating memories, partnerships and produce to support and sustain our project.
Where we have come from.
In 2019 we formed a CIC called Helping Hooves and worked for 18 months in equine based non clinical support sessions. We had a humble start with a few acres three horses and a couple of stables.
We grew through the years and in 2020 we moved to our second home in Little Eaton. There we further developed the project taking on a small allotment and further paddocks in the area. We started micro farming with goats, sheep and chickens, as well as the equine work. We created a small bee keeping project and has three successful hives which were beginning to grow to the point of yield before they were lost to storms in 2023.
We had also introduced a successful Bushcraft and archery peer group.
We support over 60 people on various regular workshops, groups and 1:1 sessions.
We hold regular wellbeing circles and groups for women, men and young people, people in recovery, and ex offenders, support school provision for primary children through working with local schools, and offer 1:1 support to young people in need of support or alternate learning provision.
We re branded in 2023 just before the end of summer as the community we had developed felt we had moved on so far from being Helping Hooves, and we were now very much a social smallholding. We worked hard as a group to discover what we now were, and Honey Hope Farm was born.
We almost lost it all.
At the end of summer 2023 our funding for several projects was coming to an end and we were once again at a crossroads, when what we thought was the biggest disaster we could have endured occurred. Storm Babet hit the farm the day before we were holding our biggest community event of the year.
The land in places was 5 ft under water, with the brook breeched so severely that the horses and sheep only had a few feet of 'dry' land, the stable block was flooded and the goats ducks and chickens housing was all but destroyed.
This was the worst flooding anyone had seen in the area for many years. Five months on and the water table is still so high that several repair jobs remain outstanding.
But the worst bit for us was watching our equipment, bell tent and bee hives being washed away with nothing we could do to stop it, or retrieve them.
The following day, with the water levels dropping as rapidly as they rose, all that was left was devastation.
We have worked for months to repair and replace what we lost, and we have been very grateful to our communities who got us through those awful times.
However as Spring approaches we know that the land we were on will flood again and the risk to staying is high.
Through one of our friends we found the new site was available and the community have jumped to support us in moving the main services ( we will retain one small bee keeping paddock and our allotment in Little Eaton).
Our vision for our new start.
The new site at Duffield has a lot of opportunities and areas for growth, some of the things here we bring with us, some we had and lost in storm Babet and so we need to replace and re build, and some, are brand new adventures.
Plus many more events and workshops.
What we are asking you to support.
When we first visited the new grounds, it was immediately obvious to us, that there was a natural wild life haven at the top of the property where the old vet surgery kept their muck heap.
Because its the very end of the property its beautifully quiet and tucked away hedged by elder and hawthorn trees which make perfect habitat for pollinators and wild life.
We want to enhance the area by fencing it and adding our bee hives ( four of which are dedicated to and sponsored by donors from our last Aviva campaign).There are some things we wish to buy to make this happen that are outside of our current finances.
We really would appreciate every donation however big or small you could make to helping our team achieve the hope of honey in Honey Hope Farm.
This project offers rewards in return for your donation.