Thriepmuir Farm
Our base is a renovated 18th century farm steading at the foot of the Pentland Hills. In this space we create a nurturing, safe environment in which our young people learn to become valued members of a community, away from the stresses and negative experiences they may have in their everyday life in the city.
Our historic base is part of our shared Scottish heritage and provides a dynamic educational space in which our young people can learn away from the formal classroom environment. Here, young people can be part of a community, develop communication and interpersonal skills, and enjoy positive interactions with peers and adult mentors, while enjoying the space and clean air being closer to nature brings – offering the chance to work through problems they may have.
Past
Youth Vision was founded in 2005 as part of the Foundation for Planetary Healing and went on to become an independent registered charity and a limited company with its own Board of Trustees on the 4th August 2009.
Not long after that we took on a derelict cottage called Threipmuir Farm. With the support of Heritage Lottery and a local retired civil engineer and other skilled local volunteers we formed the Renovation Team and were able to begin the job of re-roofing it.
Since then the Renovation Team have worked hard on the roof, the wobbly walls and other structurally unsafe areas to make it a safe place for us to work with young people, volunteers and members of the local community.
Present
In addition to providing supported work experience the Youth Vision Gardening Group also helps by maintaining the grounds around the base and they also grow much needed fruit and vegetables that are used by the young people to create a range of healthy meals.
The Wilderness Group has also helped to maintain the grounds around the base and have been involved in planning our new outdoor kitchen area and building a bigger and better pizza oven.
Future
Thanks to recent funding we will be rebuilding our polytunnel, and improving drainage and pathways around the site, as well as training up our young people to maintain the camping field.
In the long-term we would like to continue to develop our connections with the 18th century farm steading, as this enables the young people we work with to have a living-link to the past and is the perfect place to teach them traditional skills that are in danger of being lost, such as willow weaving or drystane dyking.
We also plan to run more Community Workshops to keep these skills alive and involve members of the community in the work we do with vulnerable young people.
We are looking forward to many years of fun and hard work at Threipmuir Farm Steading.
