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City farms appeal for donations as rising costs bite

BBC Alison Howell, development lead at Bath City FarmBBC
Alison Howell says that Bath City Farm does "vital work" for the community

City farms in the west have launched fundraising appeals to help them deal with rising costs.

Bath City Farm said it needed to raise £30,000 to deal with the year ahead.

And St Werburghs City Farm in Bristol has extended a fundraiser it began in September after revealing that it was still under threat of closure.

Brendan Tate Wistreich, the director of Bath City Farm, said that "costs have gone up" on everything, including vets' bills, bedding and food.

He said the money would "pay for critical costs to keep this place going".

Pammy the pig
Pammy the pig is one of the farm's star attractions

The farm, in Kelston View, opened 27 years ago and is visited by around 47,000 people annually to see its animals - which include sheep, goats and pigs.

As well as providing family days out, the farm offers volunteering and work opportunities for local people.

Harry Dawson volunteers at its café and said it "means everything to me to come and to work here".

"I get to see all my friends and it gives me a purpose to my day," he added.

Harry Dawson, a volunteer at Bath City Farm
Harry Dawson said that volunteering at the farm means "everything"

Alison Howell, the farm's development lead, said it runs a "whole range of different projects that work with babies and children from under five to children and young people and adults to improves confidence and social skills as well".

"So it's really vital work that we do here at the farm," she added.

In Bristol, St Werburghs City Farm has successfully raised the £30,000 it set out to achieve in September.

But with ever-increasing running costs, its co-director Jess Clynewood said they decided to stretch it to £40,000.

Jess Clynewood, co-director of St Werburghs city farm
The need for city farm has risen since the pandemic, Ms Clynewood said

She said the farm had "really been relying on our financial reserves to help us and our community to get through the pandemic".

And since the first lockdown in 2020, Ms Clynewood said the need for city farms in the community has risen.

"So there is much higher demand for our services and more complex needs," she added.

St Werburghs, in Watercress Road, is hoping to raise their total by Friday, while Bath City Farm wants to hit its milestone by Monday, 5 December.

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