"Making a dream come true by setting up JPC Community Farm "

My name is Julie and I am the proud wife of Paul Connaughton we are the founders of JPC Community Farm. I am also a very proud mother of my 2 amazing children Abbi 29 who has a very successful business Pink Lemonade within creative production. James a millennium baby is now 22 with a beautiful nature and a smile that melts our hearts.

My career was as a marketing consultant for Jaguar Land Rover and Lexus which I felt very proud to have been given the opportunity to have been part of. I loved being a marketeer for over 10 years travelling the country supporting dealerships to promote and market the brands.

As my son got older it became apparent that he needed both his mum and dad close by, so being away from home even a couple of nights became too much for us both. I decided to start up my own small  publishing company so I could be more flexible for James. 

When James was around 10 years old overwhelming thoughts just crept in my mind of who would take care of him when his dad or I weren’t around I knew his sister would always be there but I also knew it wouldn’t be fair to expect her to take full responsibility. When James was born they said he wouldn’t be able to do anything I mean walk or talk the consultant at the time even told us “there is no magic pill” which made me see red probably not a good idea to tell a mum that at such a young age it made me feel that they had given up on him before they’d even started to get to know hm or his condition. 

It made me feel sick to my stomach what the future would hold and I spent endless nights thinking about it until I couldn’t ignore what the pit of my stomach was saying “ we need to set up our own company “ I honestly felt it was the only option we had and my husband agreed.

Making a dream come true by setting up JPC Community Farm was not only to support our son but to also help other parents who felt the same who have spent just as many endless sleepless nights worried of what the future holds for their loved ones.

It doesn’t take a genius to know you need money, land and skills to take on such a task and all we had was the patience, love and fight for our son along with the determination to do whatever it takes to make this happen. 

Investors were found and years of research, planning and preparing was the hardest step for us to take. 

JPC Community Farm was born named after our son as it was after all his legacy and the reason for doing this in the first place – set in 23.5 acres of land is a stunning building that we use for supported living and in our hare barn are 4 fully furnished apartments so adults can now have the opportunity to enjoy a short break or live independently with support.

I now have set up JPC Care and support as I wanted to ensure the support our loved ones needed was second to none. Staff that have been recruited have all been handpicked by Carol the Registered Manager who ensured each and everyone of them had a caring and understanding nature along with experience and qualifications.

If your looking for the right place for your loved one and they are between the ages 18-65 with a learning disabilities or complex needs, then contact me at [email protected]