About us
Our experience
Karen has worked in education for over 30 years, in roles such as pastoral support, lead Thrive practitioner, Higher Level Teaching Assistant, Senior Equine Facilitator, and sports coach.
Throughout her various roles, she has gained immeasurable experience working with children who have been diagnosed with ADHD, ASD, SEMH, and various other additional needs. Karen has also dealt extensively with CAHMS and children within their system. Her roles also encompassed working alongside family/carers, providing support where needed.
Karen has numerous qualifications relevant to her role, including but not limited to: Level 3 Child Development diploma, licenced Thrive Practitioner, Level 3 Stable Management, Intelligent Horsemanship Horse Psychology, and Equimotional Coach.
With the combination of her years of experience and range of qualifications, Karen is well informed, knowledgeable, and easy going. She is not afraid of hard work, or being out in all winds and weathers. More than anything. Karen loves watching students flourish under her care and influence, enjoying their time with her, and developing a similar love for the animals and outdoors.
Outside of working, Karen and Charley love to take the horses out riding, occasionally taking part in some low level competitions! At home. there are three very energetic dogs that she spends the weekend walking. The entire Farrell family are avid football fans too!
Our mission
Here at Wellness in Wellies, we believe in providing a trauma-informed, strength-based approach that respects and responds to the unique experiences and needs of each participant.
What this means, is that we operate with kindness, empathy, and with the wellbeing of the young people and animals in our care, at the forefront of all we do. All of our courses and sessions are built around building confidence, life skills, and coping mechanisms. This means the time spent with the animals provides each individual with skills and strategies to take out into the real world.
Every session is adapted to suit the needs of the student, ensuring each visit is relevant, suitably challenging, and reflective of the individual. As students progress on from the introductory course, different paths can be taken to facilitate their longer terms aims and goals.
Our courses are built with the health triangle as a major influence, balancing mental, physical, and emotional health and wellbeing. We understand that all of these states of being are interconnected, and how vitally important it is to ensure we take care of every part of ourselves. Each part of the triangle is carefully woven into every session, and the students will learn the importance of self care in every form it takes.
Our animals
Here at Wellness in Wellies, the animals are just as important to us as the young people who visit us. We ensure they have the highest levels of care at all times by always abiding by the five freedoms:
Freedom from hunger and thirst: by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour.
Freedom from discomfort: by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area.
Freedom from pain, injury or disease: by prevention through rapid diagnosis and treatment.
Freedom to express normal behaviour: by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal’s own kind.
Freedom from fear and distress: by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering.
In addition to the five freedoms, we ensure none of the animals are required to partake in activities that may make them overly anxious, put them in harms way, or threaten their normal development. All of our animals are given plenty of downtime, enriching activities, and as close to a natural environment as possible.
If one of our animal colleagues decides that it doesn’t want to be part of a session, we pride ourselves in listening to their wants, and allowing them to say no at any time. This ensures a trusting relationship and a mutual respect between all parties.
Our responsibilities
It is incredibly important to us that each child who enters into our care is entirely safe. To ensure this is the case, we have robust safeguarding policies, risk assessments, fire safety policies, animal assessments, and plenty of other procedures in place to lower the risk of harm as much as possible.
Working with animals is always somewhat unpredictable, and we cannot guarantee the total absence of risk of injury or harm. However, we take all necessary precautions to minimize the likelihood of injury, including the use of sturdy boots, riding helmets, and appropriate clothing.
During the students first session, any information pertinent to their safety will be shared, including details of the fire drill, steps to ensure their own safety around the animals, and any areas on the farm which are out of bounds.
All of our policies are available to read, please contact us at farrellfarmsmallholding@outlook.com to obtain a copy.