Friendship is a sheltering tree.Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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. . . . . . our dreams and aspirations . . . . . .
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We are a not-for-profit charity evolving from the dreams of carers.
With the assistance of those who are as passionate about this venture as we are, we know we will succeed in fulfilling the Naradell dream. It is our intention to meet the need for high quality facilities providing accommodation in a rural setting and an urban activity hub. Both locations will offer a wide variety of activities and learning opportunities for those living with a mental health condition. Communication and co-operation can achieve greater results to benefit our participants which is why we have created the Naradell Information Centre (NIC). We are building a communication channel with other service providers and activity or training based organisations. |
We hope to make a positive difference by:
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Naradell Farm
A farm to be located in the Sunshine Coast region providing short-term or extended term accommodation, activities, education and social interaction.
The farm will also be open for day programs.
The farm will also be open for day programs.
Naradell Hub
A centre to be located in the urban area of the Sunshine Coast providing activities to suit a wide range of interests & physical abilities and the opportunity to acquire skills focused on gaining, or returning to employment. The Hub will also include a cafe (with a kitchen garden) providing training and work experience in hospitality, an open air acoustic performance area, a mini-theatre for movies and other entertainment and much more.
Naradell Information Centre
To provide improved awareness of services, activities and support available on the Sunshine Coast for people living with a mental illness, we are developing the Naradell Information Centre.
This service has already commenced with our monthly meetings and our website. We have "What's Happening in our Community" to keep you up-to-date with one-off workshops, forums, expos, conferences etc; "What's Happening at Naradell"; a special page for Carers; a page of Resources; special information about Suicide Prevention and Suicide Bereavement Support and a general information page.
Our website also has a database where you can conduct a search by area or by category listing various organisations/individuals and their services.
We hold Naradell Information Group meetings on the first Monday of each month at the Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre. Please note that these are usually not held in January or where the Monday is a public holiday. Precise information on the next Naradell Information Group meeting can be found on our "What's Happening at Naradell" page. All are welcome and we usually have an interesting Guest Speaker.
We are also aware of the need for personal contact in times of stress. This is particularly relevant with a person's initial exposure to mental health and all of its challenges. Because of this, our goal is to develop a physical presence for one-on-one meetings to do all we can to assist in seeking the most suitable support as everyone has different needs.
This service has already commenced with our monthly meetings and our website. We have "What's Happening in our Community" to keep you up-to-date with one-off workshops, forums, expos, conferences etc; "What's Happening at Naradell"; a special page for Carers; a page of Resources; special information about Suicide Prevention and Suicide Bereavement Support and a general information page.
Our website also has a database where you can conduct a search by area or by category listing various organisations/individuals and their services.
We hold Naradell Information Group meetings on the first Monday of each month at the Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre. Please note that these are usually not held in January or where the Monday is a public holiday. Precise information on the next Naradell Information Group meeting can be found on our "What's Happening at Naradell" page. All are welcome and we usually have an interesting Guest Speaker.
We are also aware of the need for personal contact in times of stress. This is particularly relevant with a person's initial exposure to mental health and all of its challenges. Because of this, our goal is to develop a physical presence for one-on-one meetings to do all we can to assist in seeking the most suitable support as everyone has different needs.
The People We Will Help
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The Carers in our group live and breathe the daily challenges faced by those they care for. Collectively, we have decades of experience and knowledge in regard to mental health and are therefore very much aware of the wide gap in support. To our knowledge, no other group or facility exists on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, focusing on mental health challenges as a full day activity centre with accommodation in a rural setting.
Similarly, no facility exists in the urban area providing a variety of activities to suit a wide range of interests and differing levels of fitness. Many of our activities will be designed to provide a sense of purpose and achievement. Both facilities will also provide training, education and career counselling opportunities aimed at assisting in commencement of employment, or return to employment. |
The facilities and activities provided at Naradell Farm and Naradell Hub will be designed to benefit those 18 years and over living with a mental health condition and who generally fall into the following main groups of mental disorders: Mood disorders (such as depression and bipolar) Anxiety disorders (including OCD) Psychotic disorders (such as schizophrenia) Trauma related disorders (such as post-traumatic stress disorder) |
The Camphill Movement
The Camphill movement was created in 1939 by Karl Konig, an Austrian paediatrician, who fled Germany during the Second World War with a group of Jewish students and settled in Scotland.
The radical difference of the new venture in Scotland was the emphasis on community both in a social and in a spiritual sense. Karl König was inspired by anthroposophy, a spiritual philosophy, mainly developed by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Anthroposophy is a human-oriented Christian philosophy. The name is based on two Greek words which mean ‘wisdom of the human being’, and reflects and speaks to the basic questions of humanity and nature. It is not an abstract theory but informs our practice and continues to inspire us.
The Camphill movement was created in 1939 by Karl Konig, an Austrian paediatrician, who fled Germany during the Second World War with a group of Jewish students and settled in Scotland.
The radical difference of the new venture in Scotland was the emphasis on community both in a social and in a spiritual sense. Karl König was inspired by anthroposophy, a spiritual philosophy, mainly developed by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Anthroposophy is a human-oriented Christian philosophy. The name is based on two Greek words which mean ‘wisdom of the human being’, and reflects and speaks to the basic questions of humanity and nature. It is not an abstract theory but informs our practice and continues to inspire us.
Newton Dee is a Camphill community in Aberdeen, Scotland. They offer a home, meaningful work and opportunities for personal development to adults with learning disabilities and other special needs. In all some 200 people live and work within the Newton Dee community. Around half have special needs. The others are mainly co-workers and their families.
Aberdeen's Camphill community is special because it was the first. There are now more than 100 villages in more than 20 countries across Europe, North America, Southern Africa and Asia.
Naradell's Vision
In many ways the Camphill philosophy reflects that of Naradell. The only real difference is that at Naradell our focus is on mental health.
At Newton Dee they provide training and supportive work environments where people can do more than just be entertained. They believe that work is an essential part of anyone's life. So whether it be a Baker, a Farmer, a Woodworker or something else - Newton Dee Camphill Community helps to support all community members to reach their fullest potential. This is all rounded out by a robust social, cultural and spiritual life.
Aberdeen's Camphill community is special because it was the first. There are now more than 100 villages in more than 20 countries across Europe, North America, Southern Africa and Asia.
Naradell's Vision
In many ways the Camphill philosophy reflects that of Naradell. The only real difference is that at Naradell our focus is on mental health.
At Newton Dee they provide training and supportive work environments where people can do more than just be entertained. They believe that work is an essential part of anyone's life. So whether it be a Baker, a Farmer, a Woodworker or something else - Newton Dee Camphill Community helps to support all community members to reach their fullest potential. This is all rounded out by a robust social, cultural and spiritual life.
Care Farming:
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Care Farming Australia
Care farming is defined as the therapeutic use of farming practice.
Care Farming Australia aims to establish the first residential care farm in Australia that will offer a full continuum of care, including transitional services, for people with a mental illness in a therapeutic community setting.
Follow their journey on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/carefarmingaustralia/
Care Farming Australia aims to establish the first residential care farm in Australia that will offer a full continuum of care, including transitional services, for people with a mental illness in a therapeutic community setting.
Follow their journey on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/carefarmingaustralia/
Liz Everard 2019–2020 Hocking Fellow
Liz intends to research a number of therapeutic or care farm communities that exist in the United States and Ireland. Covid-10 has temporarily put her plans on hold, however, her aim still is to explore how this model of care could be provided in the Australian context. The following is an article written by Liz Everard and can be found at https://www.sane.org/information-stories/the-sane-blog/wellbeing/care-farming.
Liz intends to research a number of therapeutic or care farm communities that exist in the United States and Ireland. Covid-10 has temporarily put her plans on hold, however, her aim still is to explore how this model of care could be provided in the Australian context. The following is an article written by Liz Everard and can be found at https://www.sane.org/information-stories/the-sane-blog/wellbeing/care-farming.
So what exactly is care farming?
Care farming is a type of ‘green care’ (this is an umbrella term used to describe a variety of nature-based treatment interventions that promote physical and mental health and well-being through contact with nature).
Care farms provide a variety of accommodation options, as well as psychiatric treatment and a full continuum of care for adults living with complex mental health issues. Care farming is defined as the therapeutic use of farming practices. Care farms utilise the whole or part of a farming property to provide health, social or educational care services through supervised, structured programs of farming-related activities.
Care farming is very popular in Europe, with numbers growing rapidly. There are around 1,100 care farms in the Netherlands, 1,000 in Norway, 900 in France, 675 in Italy, 300 in Belgium and 230 in the UK. The types of farms and client groups vary widely and serve people living with issues such as depression and other mental health issues, dementia, intellectual disabilities, substance misuse, as well as people who are tied to the justice system.
Participation in care farm programs has proven to be especially beneficial for people living with mental health issues. A care farm offers a non-clinical, home-like environment that reflects ‘normal’ life and provides opportunities for social interaction, skills-development, and meaningful employment.
Work provides a sense of purpose and structure. On a care farm, people are given choices and develop a sense of ownership and responsibility for the tasks they do. These activities allow people living with mental health issues to learn about themselves, their capabilities, and to develop self-confidence. They are safe places where people can practice being part of a community, in a space where they are not judged, but are accepted and respected. There is communal recognition that everyone belongs and everyone’s contributions matter to the wider care farm community.
In the United States, care farms are known as therapeutic farm communities. They combine the care farm model with the therapeutic communities approach. There are a handful of large-scale residential therapeutic farm communities in the US that offer recovery-oriented programs for people with complex mental health issues such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, and severe depression.
The oldest of these communities is Gould Farm, a 700-acre property in Massachusetts, established in 1913 by husband and wife, Will and Agnes Gould. They welcomed guests who were experiencing emotional and psychiatric vulnerabilities to join them in working on the farm and sharing the joys and challenges of daily life in a kind, healthy community.
Though some things have changed over time, guests continue to be welcomed into an authentic, multigenerational community comprised of lived experience peers, volunteers, staff members, and their families who all live together. With community-based programs in both Boston and the Berkshires, Gould Farm also offers transitional services that assist guests to move back to their own home environment.
The success of Gould Farm’s model of care also inspired the establishment of Hopewell, a therapeutic community in Ohio that provides a farm-based residential treatment program for adults with complex mental illness.
Hopewell founder Clara Rankin was unable to find suitable treatment for a family member experiencing mental health issues until he stayed at Gould Farm. She was so impressed with how the experience changed him that she decided to create a similar setting in Ohio. With the help of a group of devoted professionals and friends, she raised the necessary funds, and found a suitable property. Hopewell opened in 1993.
In Ireland there are around 100 care farms, most of them offer day programs for a variety of client groups. Slí Eile, however, is unique. Set in in County Cork, Slí Eile, which means ‘another way’ in English, provides a supportive, recovery-focused living environment for people experiencing mental health difficulties. It operates through two non-profit charitable companies. One acts as a housing association and provides accommodation, the other provides a variety of individual and group support services – such as facilitating a range of social enterprise activities, including a fully-certified organic farm and market garden, a dairy, and a bakery.
I look forward to visiting these therapeutic and care farm communities once travel restrictions are lifted. The aim of my research is to explore how a similar model of care could be provided in Australia. I hope this project will bring us one step closer to changing the status quo in our mental health system, and galvanise our policymakers to try new approaches that have already proven successful in other parts of the world. The various care farm approaches move away from the highly medicalised models seen in our hospital system and, instead, provide opportunities for people with mental health issues to be part of a community and participate in a natural environment.
Photos by Peter Mathew.
Care farms provide a variety of accommodation options, as well as psychiatric treatment and a full continuum of care for adults living with complex mental health issues. Care farming is defined as the therapeutic use of farming practices. Care farms utilise the whole or part of a farming property to provide health, social or educational care services through supervised, structured programs of farming-related activities.
Care farming is very popular in Europe, with numbers growing rapidly. There are around 1,100 care farms in the Netherlands, 1,000 in Norway, 900 in France, 675 in Italy, 300 in Belgium and 230 in the UK. The types of farms and client groups vary widely and serve people living with issues such as depression and other mental health issues, dementia, intellectual disabilities, substance misuse, as well as people who are tied to the justice system.
Participation in care farm programs has proven to be especially beneficial for people living with mental health issues. A care farm offers a non-clinical, home-like environment that reflects ‘normal’ life and provides opportunities for social interaction, skills-development, and meaningful employment.
Work provides a sense of purpose and structure. On a care farm, people are given choices and develop a sense of ownership and responsibility for the tasks they do. These activities allow people living with mental health issues to learn about themselves, their capabilities, and to develop self-confidence. They are safe places where people can practice being part of a community, in a space where they are not judged, but are accepted and respected. There is communal recognition that everyone belongs and everyone’s contributions matter to the wider care farm community.
In the United States, care farms are known as therapeutic farm communities. They combine the care farm model with the therapeutic communities approach. There are a handful of large-scale residential therapeutic farm communities in the US that offer recovery-oriented programs for people with complex mental health issues such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, and severe depression.
The oldest of these communities is Gould Farm, a 700-acre property in Massachusetts, established in 1913 by husband and wife, Will and Agnes Gould. They welcomed guests who were experiencing emotional and psychiatric vulnerabilities to join them in working on the farm and sharing the joys and challenges of daily life in a kind, healthy community.
Though some things have changed over time, guests continue to be welcomed into an authentic, multigenerational community comprised of lived experience peers, volunteers, staff members, and their families who all live together. With community-based programs in both Boston and the Berkshires, Gould Farm also offers transitional services that assist guests to move back to their own home environment.
The success of Gould Farm’s model of care also inspired the establishment of Hopewell, a therapeutic community in Ohio that provides a farm-based residential treatment program for adults with complex mental illness.
Hopewell founder Clara Rankin was unable to find suitable treatment for a family member experiencing mental health issues until he stayed at Gould Farm. She was so impressed with how the experience changed him that she decided to create a similar setting in Ohio. With the help of a group of devoted professionals and friends, she raised the necessary funds, and found a suitable property. Hopewell opened in 1993.
In Ireland there are around 100 care farms, most of them offer day programs for a variety of client groups. Slí Eile, however, is unique. Set in in County Cork, Slí Eile, which means ‘another way’ in English, provides a supportive, recovery-focused living environment for people experiencing mental health difficulties. It operates through two non-profit charitable companies. One acts as a housing association and provides accommodation, the other provides a variety of individual and group support services – such as facilitating a range of social enterprise activities, including a fully-certified organic farm and market garden, a dairy, and a bakery.
I look forward to visiting these therapeutic and care farm communities once travel restrictions are lifted. The aim of my research is to explore how a similar model of care could be provided in Australia. I hope this project will bring us one step closer to changing the status quo in our mental health system, and galvanise our policymakers to try new approaches that have already proven successful in other parts of the world. The various care farm approaches move away from the highly medicalised models seen in our hospital system and, instead, provide opportunities for people with mental health issues to be part of a community and participate in a natural environment.
Photos by Peter Mathew.
References
Urban Nature Experiences Reduce Stress in the Context of Daily Life Based on Salivary Biomarkers. MaryCarol R. Hunter1*, Brenda W. Gillespie2 and Sophie Yu-Pu Chen3 Front. Psychol., 04 April 2019
Cirstovao A, Zorini, LOHassink J. Combining agricultural production and care for persons with disabilities: a new role of agriculture and farm animals. In: Cirstovao A, Zorini, LO, eds. Farming and rural systems research and extension. Local identities and gloablisation. Florence: Wageningen University/Fifth IFSA European Symposium, 2003:332–41.
Hassink J, Van Dijk M, eds. Farming for health. Green-care farming across Europe and the United States of America. Vol 13. Dordrecht: Springer, 2006.
Hine R, Peacock J, Pretty J. Care farming in the UK: contexts, benefits and links with therapeutic communities. Ther Communities 2008;29:245–60.
Bragg R. Care farming in the UK—key facts and figures. Summary report for Natural England. University of Essex, 2013.
Elings M, Haubenhofer D, Hassink J, et al. Effecten van zorgboerderijen en andere dagbestedingsprojecten voor mensen met een psychiatrishe of verslavingszorgachtergrond. 2011.
Bragg R, Egginton-Metters I, Elsey H, et al. Care farming: defining the ‘offer’ in England. Natural England Commissioned Reports, NECR, 2014:155.
Bragg R, Wood C. Care farming provision and capacity survey 2014. Green Exercise Research Team, University of Essex, 2014.
Di Lacovo F, O'Connor D. Supporting policies for social farming in Europe progressing multifunctionality in responsive rural areas, in report for so far: social services in multifunctional farms (‘Social Farming’). 2009.
Urban Nature Experiences Reduce Stress in the Context of Daily Life Based on Salivary Biomarkers. MaryCarol R. Hunter1*, Brenda W. Gillespie2 and Sophie Yu-Pu Chen3 Front. Psychol., 04 April 2019
Cirstovao A, Zorini, LOHassink J. Combining agricultural production and care for persons with disabilities: a new role of agriculture and farm animals. In: Cirstovao A, Zorini, LO, eds. Farming and rural systems research and extension. Local identities and gloablisation. Florence: Wageningen University/Fifth IFSA European Symposium, 2003:332–41.
Hassink J, Van Dijk M, eds. Farming for health. Green-care farming across Europe and the United States of America. Vol 13. Dordrecht: Springer, 2006.
Hine R, Peacock J, Pretty J. Care farming in the UK: contexts, benefits and links with therapeutic communities. Ther Communities 2008;29:245–60.
Bragg R. Care farming in the UK—key facts and figures. Summary report for Natural England. University of Essex, 2013.
Elings M, Haubenhofer D, Hassink J, et al. Effecten van zorgboerderijen en andere dagbestedingsprojecten voor mensen met een psychiatrishe of verslavingszorgachtergrond. 2011.
Bragg R, Egginton-Metters I, Elsey H, et al. Care farming: defining the ‘offer’ in England. Natural England Commissioned Reports, NECR, 2014:155.
Bragg R, Wood C. Care farming provision and capacity survey 2014. Green Exercise Research Team, University of Essex, 2014.
Di Lacovo F, O'Connor D. Supporting policies for social farming in Europe progressing multifunctionality in responsive rural areas, in report for so far: social services in multifunctional farms (‘Social Farming’). 2009.
Our Hummingbird will take you Home
