Our work with Oasis Farm Waterloo: A Partner Spotlight
Oasis Farm Waterloo is a city farm in central London which welcomes groups of young people for transformative programmes of “family, farming and therapy”. The six-week programme, run in partnership between the charities Oasis and Jamie’s Farm, combines practical activities around the farm in small groups, with time together to share food, reflect on how individuals are doing and celebrate achievements. The programme builds confidence, resilience and improves young people’s wellbeing.
How do we work together?
AllChild and Oasis Farm Waterloo regularly collaborate to deliver impactful programmes for young people on the farm. AllChild Link Workers select up to eight young people who would benefit from the half-day, six-week programme – across a range of London schools - with a specific focus on improving mental wellbeing, confidence and relationships. The farm sessions are con-delivered by AllChild staff and practitioners from Oasis Farm Waterloo. Each week the young people are challenged to try new activities on the farm – which could be cleaning out a lamb pen, cooking with farm produce, turning compost or making clay bowls. Actions are celebrated which demonstrate qualities such as bravery, kindness, playfulness and helpfulness. Young people are encouraged to recognise their successes and benefit from the therapeutic farm environment.
Oasis Farm Waterloo also plays host to AllChild Community Days, and AllChild collaborate more widely with Jamie’s Farm, with young people travelling to rural farms for an extended “Family, Farming and Therapy” residential stay – built around the same principles and ways of working, but on a larger scale than our city farm.
What is so important about your work?
We give young people a chance demonstrate their many skills and abilities, and to have these named and celebrated; to be physical, to get their hands dirty, to build and care for things, plants and animals; to make and share delicious, healthy food which they’ve helped grow; and to witness and experience positive relationships with their peers and adults. We know that this has a consistently positive impact on how they feel about themselves – from our latest data we can see that, for those young people referred for wellbeing needs, over 70% showed improvement after the six weekly visits to Oasis Farm Waterloo. As their experience at the farm is shared with staff within their school, in this case AllChild practitioners, there is the opportunity to reflect on how these positive changes can be maintained and taken forward beyond the six weeks.
Plans for the future
Oasis and Jamie’s Farm have run Oasis Farm Waterloo in partnership for over 10 years, welcoming thousands of young people to the farm over the years. The Waterloo farm was also intended to be a “temporary” project as the land is leased on a meanwhile basis. We are very excited to announced that there are plans, from 2026, to have a new iteration of the farm established at Oasis St Martin’s Village in south London. This will be a permanent site which will enable many more thousands of young people to experience the benefits of a “Family, Farming and Therapy” programme in years to come.
