We are now at the end of 2025 and once again, we are aware that we have been a little quiet recently, but believe me, we have been working hard behind the scenes and we can now publicly announce that.....

Phase 1) Our Community Animal Park and Building are now financially secure!

Phase 2) Stonebroom Community Hub (for Outdoor and Occupational Learning) is now an official CIC (Community Interest Company)

It has taken us the best part of 12 months to get registered. We've hit many hurdles but we have overcome every one of them and we have an amazing team on board now, and we can finally start applying for official funding to really try and get things moving a little quicker. There have been a few changes at the Animal Learning Centre over the past 12 months too... We have, sadly, lost Hamish, my first pig, who was nearly 16 when he died; Olive, our lovely little pink pig, and our little shy goat Neddy, whose passing came as a huge shock, and took us all some time to come to terms with. BUT we still have Horace, our (in)famous Community pig; Dottie and Donut, our gorgeous 15 year old pigs; Shaggy, Norbert and Norris, our beautiful goats, and our hilarious ducks and chickens; as well as two very tame and cuddly guinea pigs. We also have TomTom, a rather large 6 year old Kune Kune / pot bellied pig living in Olive's paddock. He's been with us since May 2025, while his owner finds a new home for him to live.

Please be assured that every penny raised so far, both from donations on here, and from donations from our ALC sessions, is being used to help with the cost of animal food, bedding and repairs to the ALC, as well as to begin initial emergency repairs to try and prevent our building deteriorating further into disrepair...... It is imperative that we still continue with our fundraising efforts to help us move more swiftly into phase 3 of our community project, so PLEASE keep giving and I'll tell you all about how we intend to do this...

We formed our Community Group, Stonebroom Community Hub for Outdoor and Occupational Learning .... Stonebroom Community Hub, for short, 18 months ago now. We are a dedicated team of volunteers, who are taking over the lease of the building and will be committed to fund raising to renovate the building into the Community Outdoor Learning Centre we have wanted for so long. We'll be applying for funding from anywhere we can to help us to do this as quickly as possible. We are a totally not for profit organisation, so any funds that are raised will be used to pay for the running of the Animal Learning Centre and any remaining funds will be directed straight back into the business of getting the building up and running!

We have been running Home Ed, Toddler and public sessions during the last 12 months, and these have proved to be very popular, so much so that there are not enough days in the week to run all the sessions we're asked for! The donations from these sessions are really helping with the extortionate costs of animal feed, hay and paddock upkeep, so thank you to everyone who attends these sessions, I'm aware we work you all quite hard, but we do get a lot done!

Follow us on:

Instagram @stonebroomanimalpark

our Facebook page: Stonebroom Community Hub

We are now very excited to be moving into Phase 3, and we will be applying for larger pots of money to continue to make the building water tight and safe and we will also be upgrading the Animal Learning Centre, as soon as enough money and labour is secured.

So, I'm sure you can all understand, we are only on the very bottom rung of a very tall ladder, as far as renovation of the building / ALC is concerned, so if ANYONE can offer time, just to come and help; resources, expertise or experience in the way of replacing rotten timbers . flat roofing / window repair / replacement, we would very much appreciate some advice, support, funding and maybe a few hours of your valuable time to help us get this project off the ground!

I will leave the history of how our Animal Learning Centre has evolved below, so anyone who is new to our GFM page, can learn about our journey since 2017...

"Our Animal Learning Centre was established in 2017 initially as part of the education of the Forest School learners at Stonebroom Primary and Nursery School, but it has now evolved into an integral part of our community, and we take bookings for members of the ever expanding Home Education network, Toddler sessions, public sessions and of course our Forest School sessions are ongoing too. We support learners who are undertaking their Duke of Edinburgh Awards, and currently have 3 young men helping out on Sunday afternoons! All these sessions need to be booked, by contacting me (Janie) on our Whatsapp business number 07960 678 727

People from near and far regularly come to visit our ALC. You can see our pigs, goats, chickens and ducks (as well as varying amounts of chicks and ducklings which hatch naturally every spring), from outside the gate, at any time. The woodland has free access and anyone can come and see our animals without having to enter the ALC. (sessions on the ALC need to be booked in advance).

 Everyone has their favourite animal and bags of fruit and veg scraps are eagerly carried down through the woodland on a daily basis, by members of the public, especially on a Sunday afternoon, to feed Donut, Dottie, Horace and TomTom our 4 resident pigs. Children (and some adults!) squeal with delight as they throw their carrots and apples through the fence and watch as Dottie tries to pick up as much food as she can before running away to a corner of the paddock to consume her feast quickly before Donut tries to take it off her; Horace will sit for his food on command, trotter raised in anticipation, mouth wide open, patiently waiting for the tasty morsel on offer to land, as long as it is thrown with some degree of accuracy; our goats will bleat pitifully and jump up at the fence, in the vain hope that they might just be allowed the odd bit of carrot or apple before Horace comes along and steals it out of their mouths. The chickens and ducks have free range of the Animal Learning Centre and they are also a constant source of entertainment for any visitors as they run around in their chosen cliques (or maybe that should be 'clucks'!) with youngsters in tow, learning their place in the pecking order.

To anyone who regularly visits our woodland and Animal Learning Centre all of this will be very familiar, but to those of you who have not visited, I hope this will give you some insight into how much fun, entertainment, hilarity and therefore hugely positive mental health and well being benefits, our animals give to the many, many visitors who come and spend time in this peaceful and natural woodland environment. The Community woodland itself provides a tranquil and relaxing safe space for everyone to enjoy, explore and spend time freely and as previously mentioned, the Animal Learning Centre also plays an extremely important part in our weekly pre booked Home Ed, Toddler, and Forest School sessions, as our learners quickly develop an understanding of how to care for and nurture our animals to ensure they are all kept happy, safe and well (children and animals!), while encouraging all learners to gain confidence and self esteem by spending quality time in natural outdoor, and usually rather muddy, surroundings!"

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THANK YOU!