Farmhouse learning

Fearless Farmhouse offers a place of personal growth and learning in a unique working farm environment.

Using animal and nature assisted therapy, the Bellbrae business offers a wide range of programs for participants from a range of backgrounds.

For owner and founder Hope Fitzgerald, the business has been a long-time dream of hers and something she felt the area was missing.

When she met her partner Chris Corcoran 2019, everything started to fall into place and the business officially opened in 2020.

Although hesitant to launch a business in the midst of a pandemic, Fitzgerald saw a true need with support services shutting down.

 

Fitzgerald has worked in community services and studied cognitive behaviour therapy, delving deeper into therapy with horses and animals.

Her daughter Maisy was diagnosed with autism, an intellectual disability and ADHD at seven years old and was one of her biggest motivators in starting Fearless Farmhouse.

Maisy, now 17, struggled in traditional classrooms but thrived during equine therapy, where she found her love for horses.

“I could just see there was a need for something that was more hands on with other animal’s and learning more practical skills,” Fitzgerald said.

“There was a lot of kids I worked with that had intellectual disabilities and that kind of thing who were never going to learn like everybody else learns at school and they need to learn practical skills to live their life.”

 

Most of the programmes are based around animal-assisted therapy, where participants go around the farm, feeding and caring for the animals.

“Helping to feed or care for them is just enough, for some, to give them a sense of purpose, and a feeling of self-worth for giving something to another being and then feeling like they’ve achieved something very special.”

Nature based therapy is also incorporated with farm tasks, cooking, gardening and more making up part of the programmes.

When Fitzgerald first started the business, she was doing sessions one on one by herself, the business has continued to grow over the past four years and now has 12 employees.

Staff support their wide range of participants and are all qualified in different areas including occupational therapy, holistic therapists, disability support and more.

Participants range from youth right through to adults, with some of them having disabilities, facing mental health challenges and kids who are homeschooled.

 

Fitzgerald said since COVID she had noticed a lot of youth were struggling at school and can’t handle being in a mainstream environment.

She said watching participants develop and learn was one of the highlights for her.

“Seeing the growth of some of the people that come out here, after they’ve been here for a certain amount of time, or just the joy of a new participant that comes out, it’s pretty special.

“That’s probably the bit that makes me happy because that’s why I’m doing it and helping these ones with whatever challenges they’ve got.”

A range of animals make up the Fearless Farmhouse family from, cows and goats to chickens and even a donkey.

 

Most of the animals on the farm are rescues and are given a second life on the property.

“I’ve been approached to take on goats and horses and chickens and all kinds of things, that’s another big part of it,” Fitzgerald said.

“I’ve always just been passionate about animals, full stop, always rescuing animals even when I wasn’t doing this work. Obviously I love the animals, I can spend time with the animals by myself and just enjoy that every second of the day.”

Fitzgerald describes the farm as a “pretty special place” and although it was just five minutes from Torquay, it can feel miles away.

“I get a lot of people tell me it feels really calm out here and it just feels nice to be out here and they could spend all day here, and I guess I feel like that as well,” she said.

 

The environment of a working farms provides a unique experience for participants.

“I don’t think kids and some adults get to experience this kind of thing, being out on a farm and patting a sheep, or even just feeding them,” Fitzgerald said.

“Everybody feels really safe here, it’s a safe place, everybody feels welcome and included, it doesn’t matter whether they have a disability or struggling with mental health.”

Along with day programs, Fearless Farmhouse also offers respite camps where participants get to sleep under the stars in their swags on the farm. This option provides much needed respite for families and included a range of activities for the campers.

For more information, head to fearlessfarmhouse.com.au