Mud larks!
Throughout the summer break, we like a day out, when we can get together with some of our youth club members and try something different, outside of the club environment.
Yesterday was the first trip this summer and it was a brilliant day out at Mudchute Fam in East London, very close to Canary Wharf.
Set in 32 acres of countryside on the Isle of Dogs, Mudchute is a community charity, with a working farm, children’s nursery and a wide range of education activities.
Our group set off from Sycamore HQ in Dagenham, and arrived at Mudchute DLR an hour later. The farm is right next to the Docklands Light Railway and after a quick search for the entrance, our group of nine young people and seven adults headed up to the farm entrance and met a wide variety of animals.
Mudchute is one of the largest inner city farms anywhere in Europe. There is a wonderful collection of British rare breeds with over 100 animals and fowl on the farm! Throughout Mudchute Farm's landscape and buildings you will be able to view British rare breed animals, horses and ponies everywhere. The larger animals graze in the outer enclosures and fields, while the smaller animals are kept just next to the main courtyard in 'Pets Corner'.
We saw sheep, goats and pigs, as well as a selection of wildfowl. We stopped for linch in the farm courtyard and after that we headed to the pets Courtyard and one or two of our young people took the chance to feed some of the animals. We gave each of our youngsters a gift bag from the Mudchute shop and there was time to check out the nature trail before we headed back to the DLR.
It was a great day, and we'd like to thank all the staff and volunteers for coming along to help. We had a great day and we're looking forward to another day out next week! For more info on our youth clubs and activities, drop a line to activities@sycamoretrust.org.uk