Photo: Collected
A community-owned farm in London, which saw a surge in popularity during the pandemic, has said it is now running at a "significant loss".
Sutton Community Farm has been running for the past 14 years and has gained 450 community shareholders. It is run by seven full-time staff and other volunteers but is now appealing for more community support and council funds to keep it going.
Sutton Council said it had promoted the farm in its publications.
The farm receives most of its funding from organisations including the City Bridge Trust and the National Lottery. Sonia Cropper, head of communications at the farm, said: “Our relationship with the council doesn’t lead to much benefit to us as a community enterprise.”
She said the council had not provided any substantial support and that promises had gone unkept.
"They made some suggestions on how they could help, that they didn’t deliver on in the end," she said.
“They have digital billboards and they said they would put us on their billboards for free, but that never happened.
"We have had various meetings with their comms (communication) team.. but it never really leads to anything."
The farm volunteers and shareholders believe some of the problems stem from its geographic location. Although it is located within the Sutton Council area, the land itself is owned by neighboring Surrey County Council. Boundary changes over time have left the site forgotten, by both councils, making it harder to gain traction for things like renewing leases, according to Ms Cropper.
She added: "We get it, they don’t have the means to give us money. That’s the problem with many councils I’m sure."
In response, the council said it was a "great supporter" of its work.
"We have been very happy to promote their amazing community work in our publications regularly over the past year,” a spokesperson added. See details.
Source: Online/GFMM
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