We got there! Finally, ready for phase 23 weeks ago
By Steven Jones
This project will turn a garden on an organic farm into a community growing hub, combining food production with research on climate resilience and food quality while offering education and therapy.
Treflach Community Growing Hub champions organic practices, sustainability, and social inclusion. Located on a small family-run farm, it connects with the community through educational and therapeutic gardening and land management activities, addressing social exclusion, and promoting exercise and access to healthy food. Established in 2021 with a permaculture approach, the garden lies at the heart of the hub. Treflach Farm Community Interest Company (CIC) bridges between the farm and the community, whilst supporting long-term farm diversification. The project is led by a dedicated and experienced team and focused on soil health, biodiversity, and sustainable food production. The hub aims to become a replicable model that fosters connections between people, food, and nature. Plans include building a low-impact roundhouse, biochar production for climate and soil benefits, a rainwater catchment system, a polytunnel for year-round growing, and spaces for group work and activities.
What we'll deliver:
Why it's a great idea:
1. Community Engagement: The project fosters community inclusion by encouraging local people to volunteer, learn, and socialize in a welcoming environment, addressing loneliness often associated with rural living. 2. Horticulture Therapy & Training: Offering horticulture therapy and training, provides therapeutic benefits and practical skills to participants, improving well-being and employability. 3. Connection Between Producers and Consumers: The project strengthens the relationship between food producers and consumers, offering opportunities for local people to become involved in food production on a small scale. 4. Access to High-Quality, Affordable Food: The garden will produce nutritious food for participants and the wider community, providing access to high-quality produce in return for participation. 5. Soil Building & Environmental Impact: By conducting a long-term soil-building experiment, the project promotes a deeper understanding and interaction with nature.
Steps to get it done:
This project aims to tackle global challenges such as the climate crisis, food security, and community resilience by creating a scalable model that can inspire other farms or communities. The project embraces permaculture, organic, and agroecology practices to support healthy soil, mitigate climate change, and protect wildlife and biodiversity. These practices align with the farm's broader goals and connect to a network of like-minded projects, farms, and growers. The project will leverage these networks for fundraising, sharing outcomes, and building community hubs where skills can be developed and inspiration generated. The ambition is to think globally and act locally, creating a lasting impact in key areas.
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Whoop, 50 people have pledged since fundraising began!
Brilliant news, thanks everyone!
Let me provide a little background on what we are doing at Treflach, and you can take it from there. From the Farm's perspective, they seek to develop an attractive and productive garden area to complement the other areas of their business. We have developed a plan and are at the start of phase two of this. We started on the garden itself, and now we have some funds lined up to help us develop the infrastructure around the garden. This generates some more interesting and engaging work to do, plus of course, as we develop, we will have facilities for year-round activities. From my perspective, I am a teacher of permaculture design, organic gardening and am an advocate for community growing schemes. I am also serious about producing more food and being increasingly active in the local food economy, which I see as strategically important going forward. I am using the garden as a research project into soil building and carbon sequestration, a long-term experiment into using the organic no dig methodology. What we have to offer is gardening as a therapy, mindful work that helps people focus on the present in a mutually supportive environment. We use hand tools, work at a slow and steady pace and keep stress, etc, to a minimum. There are no expectations on volunteers to do more than they are able, whilst encouraging people to do what they can. Practical sessions are no more than 4 hours, and there is a common room area for drinks, and volunteers are encouraged to bring a snack for themselves. I hope that participants will be drawn into wanting to learn new and practical skills, at whatever level is appropriate, to become part of a team and that we ,will slowly take on my responsibilities and more beds to produce more food. Produce is available for volunteers to take home, when appropriate, and as we grow, more will be offered for visitors, students, and for sale via the farm. Treflach has charitable goals around community engagement and social inclusion as well as high environmental standards. i hope that this mix of concerns, activities and goals can create many opportunities for participation. Most of our work is not funded, and we would love to find ways to win financial support for our work, but at this stage, we are open to anyone who wishes to take part in the ongoing project. We are keen to work with clients who have some budget and support costs attached to them, but this is not a requirement. We really want to build our momentum as the project develops. Currently, we hold two volunteer sessions a week, on Thursdays and Saturdays, from 10.00 am. It is pretty informal, I am happy for people to turn up without booking, but you are also welcome to contact me in advance, or the farm, to let us know if someone is coming. The local bus passes about half a mile from the farm, and can be asked to stop. There is a car park, facilities and washrooms for visitors. I am available to host a visit or chat, if you would like to know more
How will the money be spent?Target (inc. fees) £18,611
Costs Breakdown
This shows how money raised for the project will be spent. These costs have been confirmed by the project's Delivery Manager and verified.
Overfunding
This project is enabled for overfunding. If the project hits its funding goal before the end of the campaign period, any extra funds raised will be spent (in order of priority) on:
Target (inc. fees) £18,611
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VolunteerOnce my eyes were opened to permaculture design, I have wanted to share its wisdom with new people and in new places as a teacher and project developer. Permaculture is a strategy of working with nature, rather than against it. Permaculture creates new possibilities, new stories, new outcomes. I think its time has come!
Hi, I am Steven Jones, I studied sustainable development and trained as an economics teacher originally, working in schools and community groups exploring related themes.
I have spent the last 30+ years immersed in permaculture education and project development, developing teaching resources, building community growing spaces, and devising educational programs. I am passionate about community gardens, edible landscapes, and regenerative agriculture and want to bring this to the community here. I spent several years as part of the Cwm Harry team in Newtown, developing the Cultivate Centre where we blended organic food production with horticultural therapy, and witnessed many benefits of bringing the two disciplines together.
I was born on a Shropshire farm and have lived in Wales for most of my adult life, where I have been instrumental in establishing a series of tenant-managed housing co-operatives, whilst working at the Centre for Alternative Technology as head of the membership department. I also have deep connections to Africa, especially Uganda, where I have developed a network of permaculture project hubs, through training programs using permaculture design as a methodology. I am active in my local community as well as in the Marches real food and farming network, alongside many other interests.
More recently I have developed an experimental garden in partnership with Treflach farm's CIC, close to Oswestry. We are creating a long-term soil-building experiment as part of our community garden objective. We are experimenting with biochar making and use as a soil amendment, in conjunction with compost making. We have annual beds and a mandala garden where we are planting wind shelter belts, fruit trees, and bushes as part of an overall farm strategy to reduce external inputs and boost the farm’s biodiversity.
Project Owner: Treflach Farm CIC The Project Owner takes legal responsibility for receiving and spending the funds raised and ensuring the project is delivered.
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