Growing together: Dorset Wellbeing at Putlake Farm
Dorset Wellbeing begins a new collaboration with Salt Pig Farm, creating a dedicated outdoor learning and growing space for young people in the Purbeck countryside.
In early 2024, Dorset-based food and sustainability business The Salt Pig took on the running of Putlake Adventure Farm in Langton Matravers. Already known locally for their farm-to-fork approach and commitment to community engagement, The Salt Pig began reshaping Putlake as a place where farming, food education and public access come together.
As part of this transition, Dorset Wellbeing is now working with The Salt Pig as one of our trusted partners, with a dedicated field space on the farm made available to our mentors and young people. This marks an important expansion of our alternative provision offer, deepening our rural links and giving our community a new site to work, learn and grow.
Over the past few months, this untouched patch of land has been steadily transformed. In all weathers – from a wet winter to a sun-drenched spring – our staff and young people have created a working allotment nourished by the farm’s own compost, planted new fruit trees, and built a temporary shelter to protect visiting groups from the elements.
This space offers far more than a physical change of scene. Being based at Putlake places our young people in a new working farm environment, within reach of animals, produce and people – all of which help to create purposeful, connected experiences. As with our existing site at Gatehouse Farm, it is a place for participants to see tangible outcomes from their contributions, from seedlings to harvest. In time, some of the produce grown on the allotment will be passed on to the on-site café at Salt Pig Farm, helping CYPs see the full journey from soil to plate.
The setting also allows young people to interact with the farm’s resident animals, which provide opportunities for calm, focused activity, help reduce anxiety, and encourage nurturing behaviour. Research increasingly highlights the mental health benefits of animal-assisted environments – particularly for young people with social or emotional needs – as well as the educational value of understanding how animals contribute to sustainable food production.
For Dorset Wellbeing, the addition of Putlake strengthens the diversity of our sites across Dorset. It allows us to offer a wider range of activities and settings, and to tailor support even more closely to the needs and interests of those we work with. The partnership with The Salt Pig also opens the door to new practical learning opportunities around food growing, sustainable land use and community-based enterprise.
We are proud to be part of the farm’s next chapter and grateful for the trust and space given to us. As the seasons turn, we look forward to seeing how this field continues to grow – both in what it produces, and in what it offers to the young people who help bring it to life.
The Salt Pig Farm Cafe: now serving produce grown at the Dorset Wellbeing allotment