THE seeds of change have been sown at Farnham Community Farm (previously Farnham Local Food), having secured grant funding to improve its facilities and open the vegetable growing project up to the wider community.

Farnham Local Food began life in 2008, operating out of a founder’s back garden, and has enjoyed a productive - if turbulent - first decade, taking in several relocations and a financial crisis that threatened to stop the not-for-profit scheme in its tracks.

It survived this storm, however, and having settled at two sites in Dippenhall and at West Farm behind Packhouse Antiques in Runfold, the farm now provides a weekly veg share to around 50 families.

A £10,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund has enabled the farm to hire a new full-time farm co-ordinator, Katie Forman, who is now spearheading an array of ambitious projects to attract a new generation of members young and old.

This includes the imminent launch of a new Open Food Network, offering a ‘one-stop shop’ for people seeking to buy an array of local produce online “ad hoc” instead of committing to a weekly veg share.

“There are a lot of fantastic producers in this area, such as The Cold Pressed Oil Company in Crondall and Mill Farm Organic in Bentley, so it’s about giving all these people a joint platform to sell their stuff,” Katie told the Herald.

“We all need to look out for each other and help each other, because we are all quite small and are not in competition, so why not lend a hand and create this platform, while bringing food back to the people and taking it out of the hands of the supermarkets.”

The farm also recently secured a £2,000 grant from the People’s Postcode Lottery towards an irrigation system at West Farm, which Katie describes as a “real step up for the farm in terms of how productive we can be”.

And in May the farm will launch a Crowdfunding campaign #PowerOurFarm, teaming up with local artists and businesses to offer unique rewards in return for donations towards further improvements.

It is hoped this will fund a new electricity supply at West Farm and upgraded facilities “to make volunteering an even better experience”, as well as the replacement of the farm’s recently stolen tractor and tools, as reported in last week’s Herald.

Member and artist, Sarah Chatterton, has also recently exhibited her unique embroideries of vegetables at Oxfam bookshop in East Street - with a percentage of any sales donated to the charity.

A ‘hedgerow planting party’ was held at the farm on March 20 to celebrate another recent success - the granting of more than 400 saplings from The Woodland Trust as part of its free trees for schools and communities initiative.

While other schemes designed to boost membership include launching a new weekly veg pickup point at Packhouse Antiques - celebrated with another party earlier this month - and the scrapping of a requirement for members to participate in the farm’s weekly harvests.

Katie continued: “The whole point of changing what we do was to open it out to people who don’t have the time to volunteer. Previously we asked people to do six mornings a year to help with the harvest, and that did put some people off. We don’t need to be putting people off, we need as many members as we can. So there’s no obligation to volunteer any more.

“If you just want to come every Thursday evening, pick up your veg bag and go, that’s fine. Or if you want to volunteer, help harvest and get stuck in, that’s fine too. It’s open for all sorts of requirements.”

The farm is also planning a programme of regular social events for members new and old. And building on the success of its event last year, Farnham Community Farm will be again hosting the Sustainability Fayre in Gostrey Meadow on Saturday, June 9.

Membership at Farnham Community Farm starts from as little as £2 per month, with veg boxes ranging in price from £43 to £77 a month.

To sign up for a four-week trial membership, to see if it’s right for you, or for more information, visit the website www.farnhamcommunityfarm.com or email [email protected].