Lawrence Weston Community Farm

Lawrence Weston Community Farm started in 1986 when a group of local residents decided they wanted to make use of land in Lawrence Weston that was a former tip. We asked Alexandra Willis from the Farm to tell us more.

What do you do and what services do you offer?

Lawrence Weston Community Farm is a community-managed project that aims to improve the quality of life for local people and it’s service users by working with local people and others to provide a range of innovative, exciting, educational, environmental and recreational activities in Lawrence Weston. The farm is particularly interested in combating social exclusion and providing a safe and supportive environment in which people can flourish and contribute positively to their community. The farm offers a wide range of opportunities to local people and Bristol. These include bee keeping; a lunch club; arts and crafts activities; an after school club; a volunteering program; Open College Network Courses in Animal Care and Gardening; and the Green Finger Gardening Group who maintain the Secret Garden. We also do tours and activities for school groups. We also sell honey, seasonal vegetables, eggs, manure, animal food and bedding.

What is your staffing structure?

The farm is managed by a Management Committee made up of nine local residents and professionals from the surrounding area. There are 4 full time staff including a Farm Manager, Education Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator and Livestock Coordinator and three part time staff including a Finance Officer, Lunch Club Cook and Livestock Assistant.

What have been your recent funding successes and what do you think is the secret to your funding successes?

Since March 2005 we have raised £400,000 towards a wide range of projects. Fundraising success comes through knowing how brilliant you are as an organisation, the potential you have and knowing what funding pots are available to you.

What new projects are you developing?

We are hoping to secure funding to build the Eco Centre, which will be an environmentally friendly building with a café, shop and soft play room with a rentable space for community use. We are also hoping to open a garden centre, which will be run by volunteers. In April 2007 we received accreditation to become an Open College Network delivery centre so we plan to extend the courses that we offer in the coming years.

What challenges are you facing as an organisation?

Securing funding is one of our biggest challenges. Funding streams tend to last between one and three years which can make strategic planning difficult. Fundraising needs to be a full time job but unfortunately there are few funders that will fund a Fundraiser post. Recruiting and retaining Management Committee members is also an ongoing challenge.

What is the best thing about your job and working at the Farm?

I am passionate about city farming and think that the therapeutic benefits that a regular connection to nature and the outdoors is incredibly valuable for health and general well being. Coming to work in the summer and watching the plants grow, the swallows flying around and hearing the ducklings quacking is a perfect way to start the day. I am very lucky.

Do you belong to any partnerships?

The farm is involved with a wide variety of organisations in the surrounding area. These include local nurseries, primary and secondary schools that use the farm to do various activities such as planting a bluebell meadow, making bee costumes for Lawrence Weston Community Carnival to promote the farms new bee keeping project and building willow tipi’s and tunnels around the farm. We also provide work experience placements for students who are interested in working with animals and the environment.

We are involved in the management of acta’s On Board project and Lawrence Weston Out of School Activities. We also sit on the Neighbourhood Renewal Health Steering Group for North Bristol and the Food Networks run by the North Bristol Primary Care Trust.

The City of Bristol College also come to the farm and help to run the lunch club on a Tuesday and look after the animals. The Probation Service carry out general maintenance around the farm and we have various corporate companies complete team building tasks at the farm.

What do you get out of being a member of Voscur?

The service that we use most is advertising vacant posts and staff have attended training organised by Voscur.

How can people contact you?

Lawrence Weston Community Farm, Saltmarsh Drive, Bristol, BS11 0NJ. Email: alexlwfarm@yahoo.co.uk, tel: 0117 938 1128.
We are open every day apart from Monday from 9.30am – 4.30pm in the summer and 9.30am – 3.30pm in the winter.