Ant Barlow is the owner of several businesses including Barlow Farming Company, based in the Scottish Borders. A fully managed mixed farm that retains livestock, Park Farm is also keen to integrate environmental production practices, such as bees and fruit trees, as well as forestry which composes 20% of the area of the farm.
Ant’s involvement with local schools and offering work experience across his businesses started by connecting with his local Developing the Young Workforce regional group over 10 years ago.
“Our software business offered weekly courses to the local high school where the pupils could be involved with software projects and learn about coding. When we started farming 7 years ago, it offered another opportunity for young people to connect with a real-world environment”.
When asked if being involved in work experience opportunities was important for his businesses, Ant considers this as a critical move, especially for rural companies.
“In rural settings, businesses can make a huge impact to the local community, with farming being a core element to rural activities. By being involved with local schools, we can offer young people an insight into the farming industry and how it contributes not only to the local area, but also highlights its importance to food production and to consumers.”
“We can support a variety of different work experience durations, but the majority of those on the farm are single day sessions, either as groups or as individuals, depending on the needs of the young person. We try to expose the young people to different aspects of farm activities, to understand the depth and breadth of job roles and what’s involved in running a farm. This can be helpful for them to pinpoint an area that appeals to them and which they want to learn more about. We often help the young people to connect with other businesses in the area. In addition, there are organisations such as Borders Machinery Ring, that can give them more of an insight into a specific area or open the door to further education such as an apprenticeship.”
“We open young people’s eyes not only to farming, but also a real-life work environment – it’s so different to school and the idea of moving into the workplace can be scary. We hope to show them that it can be exciting and rewarding, and hopefully make the transition a bit easier. The young people leave having gained confidence in their abilities and are enthusiastic about what they’ve seen and done. This can also benefit our staff – they are shown the importance of their own roles in the business, and it can refresh them, bringing a “feel good factor” into their work.”
Ant realises that employers face many requests for their support from different sources, and that having the support of his local DYW Borders team makes the process a lot easier.
“Having a single point of contact in DYW is fantastic – businesses are much better supported, there’s less paperwork and have less pressure on them in the process. The DYW team gain knowledge of your business and can tailor the experience to both your and the young person’s needs, so taking part can be a success and have greater impact, for all involved.”