Edinburgh’s urban farm is marking the beginning of a new era as it announces a new range of services only two weeks after opening the site back to the public.
LOVE Gorgie Farm, on the former Gorgie City Farm site, will offer a wide variety of activities, including birthday parties and pet boarding. On offer will be alpaca treks and birthday parties, and the farm can act as a venue for corporate gatherings and training events.
The farm can also be rented as a venue for community events and fundraiser parties.
Operated by education and social care charity LOVE Learning, most activities on the farm will nurture the organisation’s mission and consequently relate to education and social care.
As such, the farm will offer animal volunteer sessions for people with additional support needs, hold animal care and animal handling activities, provide “farm to fork” workshops and use its education centre to impart its accredited training programmes.
LOVE Gorgie Farm will also have a cuddle corner on the site, which can outreach to the community, including care homes and schools.
Moreover, the urban farm is committed to providing services that align with LOVE Learning’s environmental portfolio and will build a climate change garden, host green conferences and provide innovative social prescribing therapies in partnership with the NHS.
The urban farm is organising sponsorship packages to help fund the animals and the farm. Interested sponsors will be able to choose from a wide range of options like animal sponsorship, birthday packages and corporate bundles.
Lynn Bell, CEO of LOVE Learning said: “Now that the farm is back and running, we want to make sure we provide a wide range of activities that the community enjoys and ensure that we are financially sustainable, delivering enough funds to successfully run the farm.
“By offering animal, environmental and education services, we will make sure that LOVE Gorgie Farm becomes more than an urban farm but rather an education and social hub with strong environmental credentials that welcomes all members of the community.
“Aside from these new services, we are looking to launch sponsorship deals for people and businesses who want to be more involved and support the farm through their generous donations.”
To the general public, the farm remains open seven days a week and it is free to visit, though donations are encouraged.
Those interested in any of the services should contact LOVE Gorgie Farm at gorgie@l-o-v-e.org.uk or visit www.gorgiecityfarm.org.uk
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