So with that in mind, we pulled out all the stops to have our trip at the start of October. This proved to be quite challenging; not least finding suitable adults able to accompany us at short notice and at one of the busiest times of year. Besides myself, there were Lorraine Jones, Stuart McWilliams (for the trip down and the first half of the week), and Yvonne Noone (for the second half of the week and the trip back). They were brilliant and deserve our hearty thanks. 

The trip itself involves 5 days away from home in an unfamiliar setting, with an opportunity to experience life from a different perspective and getting involved in useful work which benefits the community; “giving something back”. Up until about 7 years ago this was usually achieved by spending time in Botton Village (Europe’s largest Camphill Community), but changes in legislation have made that problematic; so recently we have achieved this through visiting the Ringwood area on the Dorset/Hampshire border. 

We stayed in two adjoining ‘lodges’ at Braggers Wood, a Scout campsite nestled into the edge of the New Forest. Working in allocated teams for 24 hours each, the students took it in turns to cook dinner for the others, organise breakfast and sandwich-making for packed-lunches, as well as doing the washing-up. Evenings otherwise mostly involved games or sitting around the campfire, with optional marshmallows… 

4 students went to Ringwood Waldorf School, visiting, but also team-teaching in the kindergarten and lower school. The ‘Head Teacher’ there is Olly Room’s step-mum.

3 students went to the adjoining Lantern Community, a craft-workshop-based Camphill community where they worked alongside adults with learning differences and learned a range of craft skills. 

 12 students went to Sturt’s Farm, a Camphill community which also has a large shop/ café and some craft workshops. It is similar in many ways to Tablehurst or Plawhatch farms; and it is in fact partly run by our former colleague Anna Nilsson who was a class-teacher here before moving to Plawhatch and then a few years later to Sturt’s Farm. 

8 students went to Highmead Farm, a more ‘mainstream’ farm-based setting for adults, with learning differences or mental-health issues, who need a supportive environment. The students were tasked with rejuvenating a band-stand for community use (which they did with gusto!). 

The students as a whole really enjoyed the trip and rose to its challenges, with comments like “best trip ever!”, “it was great to be doing something useful” or “I really didn’t expect to, but I loved working with the companions” and “it was so good to have enough time working alongside the companions to get to know them a bit…” 

Simon Grimshaw
Class 11 Guardian