For the 4th day of Volunteers Week we spoke to Sarah Mountford, Volunteer and Project Coordinator at Windmill Hill City Farm, about all things volunteering on a working farm. Windmill Hill City Farm is based just off East Street, Bedminster and is a bustling 4.5-acre green space. On site, you’ll find community gardens, a variety of farm animals, a play area, picnic areas and a café and farm shop. They also have a children’s nursery and indoor and outdoor spaces to hire, including a 5-a-side football pitch. 

The Farm offers a huge range of volunteering opportunities, and offers volunteering with a real focus on improving wellbeing, through all the benefits that spending time outside connecting with nature, with others, can bring. For those living with a mental health condition and in need of extra support to enjoy the benefits of volunteering they offer a supported volunteering programme, with smaller groups and members of the Health and Social Care team lending a hand. 

Hi Sarah, can you please tell us and our readers about how volunteers are involved at Windmill Hill City Farm? What’s your role in all of this? 

Our volunteers help across our site; cooking in our café, supporting pre-school children’s learning in our outdoor nursery, helping our outdoor learning team with their work with school age children and young people, looking after our animals. However, most of our volunteers are in our garden, helping us to grow fruit and vegetables that go to our café for them to make delicious food and to sell in our veg boxes and maintain our gardens for everyone else to enjoy. 

I recruit our volunteers which means that I advertise our roles and build relationships with    organisations and support workers to help them understand who might be suitable for our volunteering opportunities.  

I meet new people and show them around the farm. I find out more about them and tell them about the different volunteering opportunities we have that meet their support needs and their availability. 

If we have an opportunity that works for them, I will arrange for the new volunteer to start. I’m then available for the volunteer if needed, but the staff who run our groups will be the people that volunteers see most. 

I also arrange for social events, we run two volunteers thank you lunches a year – our summer party will be happening in Mid-June. 

We’re marking Volunteers Week by holding two volunteer meetings with our CEO Steve. It’ll be a chance for volunteers to socialise with people from different groups and hear from Steve about new things that are happening at the farm and in our local community. 

I also arrange training and events for our volunteers; last year we ran workshops in willow weaving and fruit tree pruning as well as Autism training for our volunteers who support some of our volunteering groups. 

What would you say are the benefits of volunteering? 

Volunteering is a fun way to feel part of your community. It’s a chance to meet new people who share a love of something, gardening, or animals for example. You’re united by that shared passion and can enjoy each other’s company while you complete the tasks with your group. 

You should get a sense of satisfaction at the end of your volunteering session, seeing all that you and your group have achieved. 

What are the benefits of volunteering at the farm specifically? What do volunteers have to say about their experiences? 

In March, we asked all our volunteers to complete a survey about how they found volunteering with us, both at Hartcliffe City Farm and Windmill Hill City Farm. We found out that: 

• 86% agree or strongly agree that their mental health has improved. 
• 75% agree or strongly agree that their physical health has improved. 
• 80% agree or strongly agree that they feel less isolated. 
• 77% agree or strongly agree that their confidence has improved. 

Some of our volunteers start volunteering with us after a period of unwellness. Volunteering at the farm is a stepping-stone to building a wider, more fulfilling life; “My mental health is much better, I can still improve it, obviously, but the farm has really improved my health…I have started college, doing animal care, I also volunteer at a cat shelter.” 

Are there things at that farm that wouldn’t be possible without the help of volunteers? Are there any particular projects or tasks that volunteers help with, or have helped complete recently? 

Our regular volunteer groups, happen throughout the year. The tasks that these groups complete, caring for our gardens, animals and the site wouldn’t be possible without our wonderful and dedicated volunteers. We simply wouldn’t be what we are without our volunteers.  

Are there any particular volunteers you’d like to thank? 

I couldn’t pick just one! We are so very grateful for all our wonderful volunteers and the contribution that they make to the farm. 

What should people do if they’re interested in volunteering? (Either at Windmill Hill City Farm, another farm or outside space in the city, or somewhere else entirely?) 

If you would like to volunteer at Windmill Hill City Farm please visit our website; Volunteering - Windmill Hill City Farm or Hartcliffe City Farm; Get Involved - Hartcliffe City Farm or go to Can Do Bristol.  

Another excellent place to look if you’re interested in getting involved in a City Farm or community garden near you is the Get Growing Trail; Get Growing Garden Trail 2023 - Bristol Food Network