Good news about our sensory trail
Fairytale Farm has received two items of good news this Christmas. No sooner had we heard that West Oxfordshire District Council had granted planning permission for the trail, we were then contacted by the Cotswolds Conservation Board who told us that we had been successful in our application for a Sustainable Development Fund Grant of £5,500 towards its construction.
Designed to inspire and educate children with disabilities and their brothers and sisters, the sensory trail (part of which is pictured right) will be on an area of land of around half an acre and will include features designed to encourage children to think about the environment around them, particularly those with sensory, learning and physical disabilities. The trail will feature sensory totems, sensory garden, water play area (where children can pump water and watch it move to different levels), sand play area, 'dino dig', sensory path (with various tactile surfaces), rain wheel, mirror, arbour, willow tunnel , xylophone and 'enchanted forest' with tactile drums.
Fairytale Farm owner Nick Laister said: "We are delighted to have received planning permission from West Oxfordshire District Council and we are very grateful to the Cotswolds AONB Board for giving us this grant, without which we could not have begun work on this facility. In our view, this is the single most important part of the project in terms of creating a distinctive facility that will be of help to residents and visitors of the area with particular needs, and will be the most educational part of the Fairytale Farm project."
Work is expected to start in January 2012, with the trail being completed by the end of March. If anybody can help us build the trail, particularly those with knowledge of creating pathways and landscaping, please contact nick@fairytalefarm.co.uk.
News item added: 24 December 2011
Volunteer wanted to help with animals
Fairytale Farm has a growing collection of animals, the latest of which are our two very shy baby ponies (pictured right, and see news report below).
We are looking for volunteers who can help us with some of the basic jobs, such as feeding and cleaning out our animals. As well as our two beautiful foals, we have two pigs, two rheas, several rabbits and lots of chickens, and our collection is growing all the time.
Until Fairytale Farm opens next year we do not have any money coming into the operation, so are unable to pay our animal keepers. However, when we do open, and if you like working with our animals, it may be possible for you to stay on as a paid member of staff.
Our existing head animal keeper, Katie, is only able to work for two days a week for the next few months, so we need one or more people to take over on the days when she is not here (up to 5 days a week).
If you would like to help, please email nick@fairytalefarm.co.uk, and be a part of the UK's first fully disabled-accessible tourist attraction.
News item added: 13 November 2011
Fairytale Farm in Enable magazine
Fairytale Farm is featured in the November/December 2011 issue of Enable magazine. Enable is an exciting, forward-thinking, award-nominated disability lifestyle magazine, which is published every other month. Click here to read the Fairytale Farm article.
News item added: 12 November 2011
New ponies arrive at the farm
Two baby ponies have arrived at Fairytale Farm this week. Called Bubbles and Dainty, they are pictured here in their stable. They were donated by a nearby pony farm as they were unable to find owners for the two colts and their future was therefore uncertain. We have rescued them and they will now live permanently at Fairytale Farm and will be available for all children visiting the attraction to see when we open next year. They will soon be moved to a new stable building and their own paddock, but for now are living in our existing stables.
They are very shy and have not got used to seeing people yet. View more photographs of these two amazing animals on our Facebook photo gallery.
News item added: 13 November 2011
Town Council backs sensory trail application
Chipping Norton Town Council has backed proposals to build a sensory trail at Fairytale Farm. Nick and Nicola Laister, who are building the activity farm at Southcombe Farm near Chipping Norton, have applied for planning permission to construct the trail which is designed to engage all the senses. Features of the sensory trail will include light fountains, musical tanks, an oversized xylophone, a set of five Tubano children's drums, a rain wheel, a mirror panel and sensory totem posts. At its centre will be a quiet sensory garden with a variety of flowers.
The news was covered in the Banbury Guardian, who printed an artists impression of the park produced by Chipping Norton-based designers mark-making. Click here to view the news item.
The story was also covered in the November edition of Chipping Norton News. Click here to view this.
In other planning news, we are pleased to announce that West Oxfordshire District Council granted planning permission last week for two buildings at Fairytale Farm, an animal feed store and a large shelter in which children can handle small animals. Work on the project continues, with preview openings in summer 2012.
Fairytale Farm was also featured in a recent article in the Cotswold Journal. View the article here.
News item added: 6 November 2011