Farm fundraisers given extension in bid to raise £1.5m

The Babbinswood Farm Community Benefit Society - a type of charitable co-operative - wants to buy part of Babbinswood Farm, Whittington, near Oswestry, so that the land does not have to be sold on the open market. 

It had an original deadline of March 31 to raise the funds it needs to buy up to 117 acres of the farm. The campaign has already raised more than £67,000 in six weeks. 

Now the CBS team, thanks to the commitment of campaigners and the level of community engagement, has been able to negotiate a six-month extension to September 30 to raise the funds.

The community benefit society aims to place part of the farm in community ownership to protect its organic status as well as preserving and expanding the wide range of community projects that take place there. 

The CBS recognised when it launched the public appeal in February that the timescale was a huge challenge but has since been delighted by the level of support from the community and beyond. 

“This is brilliant news. We went public in February knowing the ask was very tight but hoping that support would be so great that we could negotiate more time like this. Now we have the necessary breathing space to get the message out and secure the important grants that are part of our business plan,” said Daisy Kirtley, one of the directors at Babbinswood Community Benefit Society. 

She said the sale of community shares, which then give members of the public a say in the stewardship of the land, had gone really well. But the CBS was also working on several different funding streams alongside it.

“We are receiving donations too, which is a good route for people who want to support what we’re doing without the life-long involvement that shareholding offers.  Our national Crowdfunder campaign is helping to sell the shares and receive donations online, and we are also working on several sizeable grant applications,” she said.

The campaign was launched after the farm, farmed by mother and daughter Barbara Jones and Casha Bowles-Jones, came under threat of being sold as part of a divorce settlement. 

The community benefit society will be leasing part of the farm in community ownership back to the farming family, who have farmed at Babbinswood for five generations, to facilitate long-term organic stewardship of the land.  

“We are passionate about keeping this land organic and food-producing, with community at its heart. We still have an enormous challenge ahead of us, but this extension really increases our chances of making it happen. If you care about this way of farming and living, please talk to your friends and family about what’s happening so we can get the word out,” said Daisy. 

Further information on the campaign is available through the website at babbinswoodfarmcbs.org.uk or by emailing future@babbinswoodfarmcbs.org.uk