Families' Farm Day to celebrate 45 years of Cherry Trees

On Saturday 6 September, we kicked off the celebrations for our 45th anniversary with a special family day at Miller's Ark Farm.

A total of 22 of our families joined us to mark the occasion, with a relaxed and joyful day out among a wonderful collection of cute and friendly animals.

With exclusive access to the farm in Hook, Hampshire, families were able to come together in a peaceful and welcoming environment to mingle and get up close with the animals, including pigs, goats, donkeys and ducks. (Some tiny piglets and Hester the baby donkey stole the show!)

The heart of the day was simply about enjoying time together. For families who face daily challenges around accessibility, safety and social barriers, days like this can be rare.

It was lovely for some of our staff and families to get a chance to chat, and we were lucky to be able to enjoy the sunshine for a leisurely lunch.

Everyone then gathered to cut some cakes and sing happy birthday to Cherry Trees, after a few words from our Head of Care Paula Rankin.

“Cherry Trees is an incredibly special place, not only to our children, not only to all our families, not only to our families who have left us and are still coming back to us, but also to staff,” she said.

“We are one big massive family, and I hope everybody realises that they are part of such a special family.”

It was a simple but meaningful moment to reflect on how far we’ve come since Cherry Trees began in 1980, and to celebrate the community that’s grown around us over the years.

Here’s what some of our families had to say:

“Thank you very much for Saturday - it was a lovely day and Harry couldn’t stop laughing for the rest of the weekend!”

“We had a beautiful day with beautiful people - thank you so much, we really do appreciate everything you do for us.”

“It was so special to be able to celebrate with you all, and Oliver had a lovely time feeding the goats!”

“We all had such a wonderful, relaxed day. We loved meeting all the animals and mixing with other families too. Thank you to Cherry Trees for organising the day, and for everything you do."

A huge thank you to Miller's Ark Farm for hosting us, and to every family who joined us.

It was a day full of laughter, connection and joy, and a special celebration of 45 years of support, strength and smiles.

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