i was working on a casual basis with a farm which has been a regular place for me to both volunteer and work over the last 6 years; this started with a work experience placement, which developed to working occasional weekends whilst at school and since, more and more time has been dedicated to the farm ending with mainly 7 days a week before i moved back to london recently. This opportunity has given me experience with the day to day care of reindeers which was our main herd, horses, pigs, goats, geese, ducks, chickens, rabbits, cats, dogs and guinea pigs. My main role here was assisting with feeding, cleaning, grooming and exercising although over the years my experience has meant that I’ve regularly been left to manage the farm on my own for short periods of time as well as watching over and teaching younger volunteers. The farm also allowed me to assist in the births of many animals, or when we have brought animals in at a young age I have bottle fed and hand reared the animals. the work on the farm formed only part of my role, the farm also provides services where reindeers are taken out in public or for private functions as well as a petting farm.