On Air Now Peter Milburn 9:00pm - 11:00pm
Now Playing Eurythmics Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)

Improving your health and wellbeing down on the farm

Monday, 28 February 2022 13:30

By Janice Stother

An inspirational mother and daughter delivering vital health, wellbeing and therapeutic guidance for those most in need, are celebrating moving to their first permanent home.  

Liz Benstead and Emma Nock run Liberty Farm, a Community Interest Company providing a wide range of nature-based coaching and counselling courses. 

Thanks to grant funding from Action Together they have been able to stage numerous programmes over the last five years, including more recently helping those facing the impact of Covid and dealing with issues around isolation, anxiety and more. 

“We have traditionally hired sites and public open spaces around Tameside to deliver our range of activities, but we are now establishing our first permanent home at Valley Farm in Ashton,” explained Emma. 

Both Emma and Liz kindly took time out to talk to us as they prepare their new base before relaunching their programme of courses in the spring. 

Emma decided at an early age that she was interested in facilitated learning and counselling using animals as a way to help others. 

Studying at Bradford University in 2015 put Emma on the path to start what is a fabulous facility, offering life coaching, therapeutic consultation and one-to-one consultation through alternative therapies and treatments.  

As well as being a qualified LEAP EFL practitioner, Emma has a level 3 Certificate in Counselling, providing coaching and therapeutic sessions facilitated by interactions with horses and nature. 

Emma says she loves to work with entrepreneurs and small business owners and particularly those working in other helping professions.  

She also has a personal interest in supporting people with chronic illness, which has arisen after she was diagnosed as having Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. 

In fact both mother and daughter suffer from the same syndrome which is an hereditary condition affecting the connective tissues causing a degeneration problem both physically and mentally, and can cause debilitation and fatigue. 

They founded Liberty Farm CIC in 2017 and used hired grounds and stables to offer their therapeutic courses to the public, with grant help coming from Action Together. 

1 of 42

More Galleries

The Leap Centre
MEMORIAL GARDENS PEACE TREE
@exploringbyjake
VALLEY FARM 2022 (1)

Share

They have used Daisy Nook to provide wild foraging and other courses, providing peer and emotional support for the local community and to help people grow and experience time in the countryside, away from all the daily demands. 

Liberty also works with the Lifecentre Hattersley charity, which itself provides a diverse range of youth and kids’ activities aimed at helping local young people achieve their potential, with Liberty providing wild foraging, environmental studies courses and nature walks.

But now Emma and Liz’s dream has started to come to completion, providing courses in one area with the creation of the new permanent base at Valley Farm.

For Emma it will allow her to realise her vision of one-to-one horse therapy for those who have limited access issues, as areas they had to hire in the past could be hilly and were not always easily accessible for all. 

Emma hopes to develop courses on site too, such as CBT and counselling as well as possible residential courses. 

“It is our aim to serve and support our local community, enabling people to find joy, health and fulfilment in their day-to-day life,” added Emma. 

Liz and Emma’s therapies complement each other perfectly and they will now be able to work even closer together.

Liz is a trained bushcraft practitioner, having trained with the Institute of Outdoor Learning. 

Together with Dave Watson from Woodland Survival Crafts, she has developed a life-coaching and therapeutic bushcraft programme. 

Liz is passionate about providing long-term mentoring for people from disadvantaged backgrounds and seeing people flourish in all areas of their life and her labradoodle Tara is a regular feature at her sessions. 

She has trained and works alongside a number of outdoor activity groups, focusing mostly on bushcraft which is a basic way to work with nature to meet our needs. She had originally started with mountain biking, but discovered with her EDS that it was not a good mix.

Liz told us about the benefits of the bushcraft coaching, mentoring and wellbeing sessions which are designed especially for those who struggle with physical and mental health conditions and the value of interacting with nature to enhance aspects of our lives. 

“Bushcraft is the ability to see what is in the natural environment and then to adapt and use those resources to provide you with what you need,” she said. 

“This can significantly boost your confidence as you learn new skills and develop a mindset of seeing solutions rather than problems.  

“Our therapeutic bushcraft programme supports people to find insight that will enable change through engagement with the outside world with the use of techniques such as firelighting, shelter building and foraging, helping people explore their understanding of themselves, how they relate to people and how they approach different challenges. 

“Bushcraft highlights the core living skills of food, water, fire and shelter. 

“These skills are creative, they are inspirational and stir up a sense of adventure. Our sessions also explore the mental and emotional aspects with clear parallels to everyday life.

“Looking at woodland and what it provides teaches you how to see the world differently – the lessons learned are deeply embedded and easily transferred to everyday life.”  

Liz is contactable as ‘Arukah Bushcraft’ and is currently supporting her daughter who is on maternity leave with just a few weeks to go  before the new arrival. 

Emma’s horse courses are currently awaiting her return after maternity leave, but the bushcraft courses will continue this spring.

If you would like to find out more about the unique counselling and therapies provided by Liberty Farm, you can visit their website https://libertyfarm.co.uk or you can find out more on their Facebook page. Alternatively you can email info@libertyfarm.co.uk for further details.

• In the pictures by Nigel Wood... Liz and Emma settle into their new permanent home at Valley Farm, with a little help from labradoodle Tara, pony Minstrel and Bailey the horse. Liz can be seen demonstrating the art of whittling which she says helps with concentration techniques.

📰 Sign up to our newsletter 📰

Want to get regular round-ups of news in your local area straight to your inbox? Simply enter your email address and tick the box below. 

Did you mean @?
Newsletter
Privacy Policy

Read more from the Tameside Reporter

Click here for more of the latest news

Click here to read the latest edition of the paper online

Click here to find out where you can pick up a copy of the paper

Share

More from Tameside Reporter

Weather

  • Thu

    19°C

  • Fri

    14°C

  • Sat

    14°C

  • Sun

    18°C

  • Mon

    15°C