Meanwood’s farmyard oasis is set to reopen

Meanwood Valley Urban Farm is a 24 acre ‘green oasis’ on the outskirts of Leeds City Centre.

Meanwood Valley Urban Farm, which was set up 40-years ago, was worried its anniversary year might be its last after suffering a massive drop in income during lockdown.

But a JustGiving page to ‘Save Meanwood Valley Farm’ was set up and the public has responded, raising nearly £25,000 so far. The farm, which also provides educational activities for hundreds of schoolchildren and vulnerable adults, has also secured emergency funding.

It is receiving help from Leeds City Council, including a £25,000 business support grant, which the council administers for the government. The farm also got £10,000 from the Edward Gostling Foundation.

A dedicated team of staff and volunteers has continued working at Meanwood Valley Urban Farm during lockdown

Adam Ogilvie, the chief executive officer of Meanwood Valley Urban Farm (MVUF), said: “There have been some very generous and kind donations from hundreds of people across the city. On behalf of the farm I just want to say a very big ‘thank you’ for everyone’s support.”

It has been a tough time for the farm, which has still been tending animals and growing produce throughout the crisis. Adam said MVUF had lost around £15,000 a month during lockdown from not being able to raise funds through admission fees and event space hire. But the donations and grants have helped put MVUF on a better footing. He added: “I think it is probably fair to say thanks to the very generous support we’ve had that hopefully the future is looking OK as long as the COVID-19 doesn’t come back again. I think we are going to be OK thanks to people’s generosity.”

But he stressed that its future was by no means certain, adding: “What the fundraising has allowed us to do is to keep going, but we are like many charities and third sector organisations, our reserves will be very low, which is still a considerable risk for the organisation. So we are not out of the woods but we are in a better place now than we were at the beginning of the COVID-19 situation.”

But now the focus is shifting towards a phased reopening of the 24 acre Sugarwell Road site from July. Measures being considered include a one-way system to avoid bottlenecks of people, hand washing on entry and exit, and putting down social-distancing markers. Adam said: “What we are currently doing is risk assessing how we can open safely. I’m hoping in July - and we haven’t got an exact date yet - that we will be able to have a phased reopening.”

The farm was busy with lambing this Spring when 32 lambs were born, including twins.

But people won’t be able to feed the sheep, alpacas and goats in the short term because of COVID-19 health concerns. The farm shop will also not reopen immediately but the Barn Cafe is hoping to do a take out service. Adam said: “It will be a bit different but we are going to try and make sure people get to see as much of the beautiful site as they can safely.”

He added: “The farm is a little oasis. You wouldn’t believe it is only a mile-and-a-half from Leeds city centre. This is an amazing facility for everyone in Leeds. It offers a bit of the outdoors, particularly to individuals and communities who wouldn’t necessarily get the chance to experience it. We are here for everyone and we want to see how we can reach more people so they can get the chance to experience what is an amazing and beautiful facility right at the heart of the Leeds City Centre.”

TECHNOLOGY:

Social media has been a “vitally important tool” in keeping Meanwood Valley Urban Farm in the public eye during lockdown.

Apple juice making at the farm is just one of the many activities it does.

The community farm has been posting videos of life on the farm during the pandemic. And on Monday it did a sheep shearing event via Facebook Live.

People can even take a virtual drone tour of the site after Callum Wright, from Dronetrics, provided his expertise for free.

Adam Ogilvie, the farm’s chief executive officer, said social media was a key way of reaching out to people who had been stuck at home. He also said they were looking at doing more to increase their “virtual farm offer”, including taking it to schools or care homes who couldn’t get to them.

The lockdown put paid to the face-to-face work it does with adults with learning disabilities and teenagers struggling in mainstream education. But it hopes to resume these in September. Another thing lockdown has affected is the farm’s 40th anniversary celebrations. But there are plans to begin them with a virtual summer fair in August.

The farm also hopes to stage an actual community event when its safe to celebrate life post lockdown life and to say ‘thank you’ for fundraising support. It is also keen to hear from artists, photographers and basket weavers who are willing to give workshops. For more see www.mvuf.org.uk or email [email protected]. To donate see: justgiving.com/campaign/save-meanwood-farm.