ENTREPRENEUR Jeanette Chapman is cultivating families in the region to work on a city farm development.

Ms Chapman, a former childcare development worker, has launched the Sunderland Training and Education Farm after growing up on her father's farm and deciding to use her agricultural skills to teach children about farming.

Her 28-acre site runs two family courses to teach children about the importance of respecting animals and replanting vegetation.

She said: "I have worked with children for more than 12 years and their lack of agricultural knowledge has always been of concern to me, so much so that I decided to do something about it and develop a fun learning environment for families.

"Many children do not get the opportunity to develop emotionally as they spend too much time watching television or playing on computer games, and I wanted to get them involved in working on a farm and caring for the animals.

"Our first projects have been a huge success and we have had a number of children doing conservation work or building up our garden patch by planting vegetables, which also teaches them about healthy eating."