SEVEN children from inner London enjoyed the holiday of a lifetime at Carruan Farm Centre, Polzeath recently.

The free three night visit was crammed with activity including feeding the farm animals, rounding up sheep with the farm's dogs, a

tractor and trailer tour of the farm and picking vegetables for the chef to cook for their lunch. They also visited a dairy farm to watch the milking and the calves being fed.

A surf lesson on Polzeath beach as well as pig racing and a game of laser tag at Carruan meant they went home exhausted but happy.

"Since we opened our farm visitor centre four years ago we have always wanted to offer city children the opportunity to visit our beautiful farm and learn about where their food comes from and how we care for the countryside," explained Clare Parnell who runs Carruan with her

husband Mike.

"How to fund such a trip has always been an issue, but this was solved by our involvement in a forthcoming TV programme where Duncan Bannatyne (one of the dragons from Dragon's Den) has been helping us improve our business. The programme paid to transport the children to the farm and for a yurt and two tipis for them to sleep in."

Mike added: "The great thing has been how much support we have had from local businesses in providing this trip. Their generosity has been tremendous."

The children came from the Portman Early Childhood Centre run by Westminster City Council whose head is Jo White, Clare's sister. Jo was delighted that children from her school had the opportunity to visit her family farm.

Mike and Clare would love to offer similar trips in the future and are looking for ways to fund them. In the meantime they expressed their thanks to all the local businesses who helped them give this group of children a fabulous experience.