Monkshill Farm in line for new lease of life with new venture Farm, Work and Play

Two mums have come up with a revolutionary way to help parents achieve a work life balance,- but they need your help to make it a reality.

Jo Jell and Vanessa Lott are the driving force behind Farm, Work and Play, set to take over the much-loved Monkshill Farm site which closed earlier this year.

Just like many other ambitious working parents, both Jo and Vanessa felt they were unable to continue their careers after maternity leave, with the pressure of inflexible working hours, the commute and the expense of childcare, coupled with their wish to watch their kids grow up – enter Farm, Work and Play.

This pioneering project, not seen before in Kent, will offer parents a place to hot desk and co-work freely, while their little ones will be looked after in a nursery on site with a focus on the outdoors and sensory play.

Partly private funded, the entrepreneurial duo have already raised £8,000 through a crowdfunding project, but still need an extra £2,000 to launch what they think and hope will be an invaluable facility for hundreds of parents across east Kent – but the fundraising finishes tomorrow (Friday).

Pledging cash to the crowdfunding campaign offers everything from a postcard with a message of thanks for a £10 donation to six months of workspace usage, one free ticket for every workshop and class, an invitation to the launch party and social media shout-outs for a £5,000 contribution.

Jo, of Cheney Road in Faversham, who worked as a theatrical agent in London said: “I got to a point with my job that I felt I had no choice but to give it up.

“The choice seemed to be either having a career and not seeing your children or leaving.

“There was no flexibility for my working hours and after meeting Vanessa at antenatal classes, we soon found that we had similar feelings about work and felt like we needed new beginnings.”

Jo ran a National Childbirth Trust Bumps and Babies group and launched Club Milk – a unique day disco for families – and began to meet a lot of parents who wanted to or had started their own businesses after becoming parents.

Meanwhile, Vanessa was made redundant from her job in London but took on a new role as a recruitment consultant in Faversham just two doors down from where her daughter is at nursery and soon discovered that some employers could be flexible.

With around 4.2 million people working from home in the UK, they realised there was a gap in the market for their vision of a dream work life balance.

Pooling their own experiences and ideas, Farm, Work and Play was born.

There will be at least 18 job opportunities when the project is launched and they are just weeks away from finding out whether they have change-of-use permission for the former education block at the farm, and then they can apply for Ofsted registration.

Vanessa, of Mickleburgh Hill in Herne Bay, said: “The response we have had so far has been brilliant and we are really excited to get it up and running.

“Most people who have supported the crowdfunding have been local parents, who have been looking for something like this for a long time.”

n Visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/farmworkplay/farm-work-play-co-working-nursery-and-creche and follow them on Twitter by searching for @FarmWorkPlay