Tuppenny Barn in Southbourne provides food education to thousands of children
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The Tuppenny Barn charity was launched by Maggie Haynes 20 years ago with the aim of growing food organically for the local community and teaching children about the outdoors, the environment, and where their food comes from.
Thousands of youngsters – many with special needs – have made their way to the site on Main Road over the years, getting their hands dirty as they plant their seeds, and tasting fruit and veg which may be new to them.
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Hide AdMaggie said: “Food education is much-needed – it was 20 years ago and it is even more so today – because children don’t know that carrots are grown in the ground, milk comes from cows.”


She’s of the view that children’s taste buds have been ‘dumbed down’.
But their visits to Tuppenny Barn soon start to re-educate them, harvesting and tasting the likes of kale, cress and spinach, with sorrel leaf and nasturtium flowers to excite their taste buds.
Maggie said: “It’s healthy and trying to encourage them to taste food.
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Hide Ad“They love it. Sometimes teachers say ‘little Johnny would never ever have something like that’ but, because everybody else is tasting it, they don’t want to be left out.”
As well as educating the 2,000 youngsters who visit each year, the charity also uses social and therapeutic horticulture to provide a safe and secure place for people such as armed forces veterans, where they can add to their skills and make friends.
Seven female veterans who are considered vulnerable, have just finished a ten-week cut flower workshop, the second course of three this year.
In 2025 there will be two mixed veteran courses teaching the skills to grow fruit and vegetables.
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Hide AdAdd to that a weekly well-being sessions for young carers, and being featured on Gardeners’ World, and the charity has proved itself to be a jewel in Southbourne’s crown.
It’s not hard to find Tuppenny Barn’s education centre on Google Maps – it’s unique – the circular building looking somewhat like a flying saucer from above.
But there’s very little that’s high-tech about the way it was built.
It’s made from 400 load-bearing straw bales, 400 recycled car tyres, and was designed to reflect the natural landscape around it.
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Hide AdIt took Maggie six years to raise the funds for the building – which she did all on her own.
Planning permission has been received to add a community café and shop next to the education centre. But this time she has a fund-raising team to help fill the coffers – and 84 volunteers to keep things going.
The new building will have insulation panels on the inside, timber on the outside and a green roof, one-third of which will hold clear solar panels.
As well as helping to bring in some extra money, the shop and café will serve a social purpose – teaching vulnerable adults the skills needed to work in such an environment.
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Hide AdThen there’s the development of seven eco-homes which are planned on an area of the charity’s land which is currently home to an orchard of fruit trees.
It’s taken the team five years to reach this stage and, should planning permission for the homes be granted, they will be built by Junnell Homes.
A spokesman said that unlocking that part of the site was necessary when it came to the charity being granted a new 20-year lease, ensuring its security.
And they won’t be any old two up, two down homes.
Each will have air source heat pumps, solar panels and battery storage, and electric vehicle charging points.
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Hide AdThere will be bird boxes, bat boxes, bricks for bees, as well as insect hotels, wild-flower seeding and the planting of native trees and shrubs.
Maggie said: “It’s really important for the charity that whatever we have next door is going to be in-keeping with what’s here.”
As for the fruit orchard, some of the trees will stay, while others will be relocated. Some are already lined up for the Our Back Garden project and the Greening Westbourne project.
A few of the 122 trees have never fruited but Maggie – who planted most of them herself – said it was important not to lose any.
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Hide AdA planning application has been submitted to Chichester District Council. To look at it, log on to publicaccess.chichester.gov.uk and search for 24/01236/FUL.
The Tuppenny Barn shop is openon Thursdays from 9am to 4pm and Saturdays from 9.30am to 12.30pm.
To find out more about the charity, log on to www.tuppennybarn.co.uk.
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