Dandelion Time
Where nature helps children heal
Dandelion Time is a nature-based charity in Kent that supports children aged 6 to 13 who are finding life hard after experiences such as trauma, loss, abuse or neglect. What makes it distinctive is that the whole family comes too, working side by side in the countryside.
Referred by schools, social workers, GPs and Early Help teams, families spend a half day each week at a farm or woodland site, caring for animals, tending gardens, baking and making pottery together. Skilled therapeutic staff guide each session, gently helping parents and children reconnect through hands-on, shared activity.
Children grow in confidence, learn to manage big feelings and begin to trust again, while parents and carers rediscover how to connect with them. Because the whole family heals together, the change carries on at home and at school, long after the last session ends.
2020
Year they joined the Raise Your Hands platform
297
Children and Young People supported last year
Why they’re needed
Some children carry experiences no child should have to, from domestic abuse and neglect to bereavement. The effects often show up as anxiety, withdrawal or angry outbursts, making it hard to settle at school, keep friendships or feel safe at home.
Many of the parents and carers have faced their own hardships too, and relationships at home can become strained. Traditional talking therapy does not suit every child, and when support focuses on the child alone, it can be hard to bring about change that lasts.
Early support makes a real difference. Without help that reaches the roots of a child’s difficulties, troubling feelings and behaviours can follow them into adult life. Helping children and families before things reach crisis point gives children the best chance to thrive at home, at school and beyond.
How they do it
The Family Support Programme begins with a home visit. Families then attend one half day a week over several weeks, in small groups of up to three families. Together they feed chickens, collect eggs, care for sheep and donkeys, grow vegetables and cook a shared vegetarian lunch from what they harvest.
Crafts are just as important. Families knead dough, throw pots, try green woodworking and work with wool from the charity’s own flock of sheep. These calm, rhythmic activities help children reconnect with their feelings, stick with something tricky and take home something they made with their own hands.
The charity works from three sites: its original farm at West Farleigh near Maidstone, a woodland branch near Ashford, and a site at Shorne serving families from Gravesend, Dartford and Medway. Across the sites, families find animals, gardens and woodland, with fire pits, den-building and plenty of space to play.
Dandelion Time also works directly with schools. Nurture in Nature brings small groups of 7 to 10-year-olds, alongside school staff, for short weekly sessions outdoors. The charity shares what it has learned through training courses for teachers and other professionals on supporting children affected by trauma and attachment difficulties.
Find out more about Dandelion Time’s amazing work
Poppy’s Story
Poppy had come to see herself as the “naughty one”, the child noticed only when things went wrong. After a time of upheaval at home, she and her three siblings moved in with their dad, Adam, joining a busy blended family of seven children, and trust didn’t come easily.
At Dandelion Time, Poppy didn’t need to find the words. She used stones, crystals and colours to map out the people in her life, and spent precious time with her dad, just the two of them. With the chickens, she started by watching from a distance, then fed them, stroked one, and finally held one herself, before helping other children do the same.
A year on, Poppy has a close group of friends, goes to sleepovers and parties, is growing at school and has earned three new martial arts belts. When big feelings rise, she now turns to her dad. “The tools you gave us have helped her, and us, massively,” says Adam.
This is a composite case that is indicative of Dandelion Time’s work. Name and image have been changed.
Support Dandelion Time along with 15 other children’s charities
Dandelion Time is one of a portfolio of small UK children’s charities championed by Raise Your Hands. When you donate to us, your gift is shared equally between every charity in the portfolio.
One donation. 16 small charities. 16 ways to change a young life.
