Case Studies
| Region | West Midlands |
|---|---|
| Location | Whittington, Near Lichfield. |
| Postcode | WS13 8QG |
| Type | Community farm |
| Legal | IPS cooperative |
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Woodhouse Community Farm received support under the Enterprise Support project.
Specialist Enterprise Support objective: to enable 200 community based food enterprises across England to develop and thrive.
Date of support: April - October 2010.Consultant: Julie White - Growing Rural Enterprise, and Pal Singh - Enigma Consultancy.
Short background and circumstances of the organisation.
Woodhouse Farm is a 22 acre smallholding belonging to Birmingham City Council. The local community recently acquired the lease after a long battle for a new tenancy for Andrew and Anna Marie Stone following the death of Andrews father (the previous tenant). Woodhouse Community Farm is an IPS with plans to involve the local community in food and farming in an environmentally sensitive way.
It has developed Care Farming Projects which offer therapeutic activities with animals, plants and the countryside to those recovering from mental ill health. It is also a CSA (operating as The Walled Garden at Woodhouse Community Farm). The CSA is called Cut of the Crop and started supplying produce in June 2011.
Details of original request for support (at diagnostic)
The farm needed to prove to Birmingham City Council that it was financially viable as an enterprise . The business plan was partly completed and the mission and vision was clear, but help was needed to identify income streams which aligned themselves to the values of the farm and demonstrated a sustainable income.
What we liked about the organisation
Woodhouse Community Farm has really captured the support of the local community and people from all walks of life are actively involved. It is passionate about sharing ethically produced food, extensively raised at fair prices and developing into a sustainable enterprise.
The farm hosts many visits from local organisations such as schools, cubs, brownies, WI, Women in Rural Enterprise, children in foster care etc, and all are welcomed and helped to understand the choices that we make when we select the sources of our food. Groups participating in care farming activities harvest vegetables and make soup, pick fruit and make crumble and pies. Participants leave care farming projects realising that seasonal, local food is affordable and contributes to their health and wellbeing.
What we did
Julie White helped with marketing plan and marketing materials (content of leaflet/flyer, Facebook page etc) and the creation of an European Social Fund bid for a group with mental health issues to access the farm and be involved in planting and growing vegetables and fruits in the walled garden. The bid and subsequent project were successful and several of those attending the farm now attend as volunteers and are helping with the new ‘Cut of The Crop’ Vegetable box CSA project.
The farm is owned by Birmingham City Council who were trying to revoke the tenancy so that it could be sold. Pal Singh also assisted the farm when they ran into difficulties whilst trying to renegotiate and renew the tenancy. He offered assistance by connecting the farm with Birmingham’s third sector and obtaining several letters of support from key organisations who would visit the farm and use its resources as intended by the original benefactor Sir Frances Howard Paget who left the farm to the city Council to be used by the people of Birmingham
Pal also assisted with an outline business plan in the format that would be most acceptable by Birmingham City Council and gave advice on legal aspects surrounding the tenancy.
The community set up an Industrial and Provident Society to run the farm as a Community Farm. This was successful and the Woodhouse Community Farm now has a tenant farmer who is running The Walled Garden as a CSA. This involves a team of volunteers and has good support from the local community. The work we did in helping to identify income streams were useful in proving financial viability.
Client’s feedback on what they gained from the support and what changes they were able to make.
• We focused on our need to bring some income into the enterprise and realised that there would be more than one way to generate income and together they would generate enough to make the farm sustainable
• A marketing plan helped us to make a list of tasks and to identify our target market and how we would communicate with them and turn them into customers
• We realised that operating as a CSA would mean a guaranteed income each week and minimise waste
• We visited other CSAs in order to identify good practice and build our business on these principles
• We took part in training to develop Care Farming Skills and Meat Retailing Skills- the other strands to the business
• We ran our first Care Farming Project and realised the value of linking fork to plate activities and cooking and eating together into the activity programme
Plus from client - What was most valuable element of the support?
Clear and logical business advice – the adviser listened to us and helped us to work out what would work best short term and longer term enabling us to see the bigger picture The advice was delivered in a positive and friendly way and very focused on what was important to us and how we would measure success.
What actions were committed to
• The lease was agreed in principle by Birmingham City Council
• CSA started
• A successful ESF Project ran for those recovering from mental ill health and has developed interest from new participants. The farm is awaiting the result from two further funding bids to run new programmes. This links those who would normally access local food into ‘fork to plate’ activities and helps the overall viability of the enterprise.
• A volunteering programme developed out of the ESF Project with several participants progressing to volunteering
What happens next?
The Walled Garden at Woodhouse Community Farm are steadily building up a group of people who are part of the CSA project and have a weekly ‘Cut of the Crop’ Currently at 20 people- aiming for 40 this year, and then to increase gradually year after year.
To explore markets for surplus produce- the farm takes a stall at the Village Produce Market and is considering Farmers Markets.
Woodhouse Community Farm has a bid in to Local Food for a Food based Education Centre at the farm, converting some redundant outbuildings.
Further bids to run projects for those recovering from mental ill health have been submitted to The Allen Lane Foundation and Job Centre Flexible Support Fund. This would enable further 12 week programmes to run and for more people to enjoy the therapeutic benefits of food production linked to wellness, healthy eating and recovery.
The board of trustees have a letter of intent from Birmingham City Council regarding the farm tenancy agreement and should receive the final document by September 2011.
