Written by Kitty Foxford and Louise Briot
On Wednesday morning we set off to visit ‘Los Robles’, a care farm which caters for people with mental and physical disabilities. This farm is located between Burgos and Cereceda, in Cantabria, Spain.
It is a unique facility which understands the benefits that being outdoors and the environment can bring, as well as the impact good food can have on the residents’ health. Theresa, the Director of the Centre, believes that good food is one of the basics of good health. One of the main principles of the organisation is to take care of the land. The approach they use combines permaculture and regenerative agriculture methods to harvest local produce, not only for their own consumption, but now also to sell to the local community. This means not using toxic products on the plants but ensuring that the soil regenerates and keeps its life.
Another of the main principles is to enable residents to try and live the life that they would lead outside of the centre. Therefore they are encouraged to take part in all of the activities the centre hosts, such as collaborating in the kitchen making bread and working together in the garden. The centre helps them to lose their fears and gives them the ability to adapt and to gain skills by setting the residents small life goals.
Theresa puts vast amounts of energy into her work at the care farm, but does not have the time to communicate all the good results that this initiative has on the residents’ health. We would like to show the world the inspiring work that they do. This would be a great project to set up in other countries. Theresa’s advice is to first begin at a small scale and observe what the land has to offer.