New staff appointed to lead project to secure a future for Gorgie City Farm

Since it was announced that EVOC was to lead the drive to find a sustainable community-led future for the Gorgie City Farm site, extensive work has been going on behind the scenes to deliver on that goal. 

The Gorgie Farm Site Steering Group have now appointed a Project Manager to help lead this work and look forward to Suzanne Campbell taking up the role from mid-July. Suzanne comes with extensive experience in service management with a particular focus on children, young people and families.

Suzanne Campbell (Project Manager) commented: “I am delighted to be appointed Project Manager of the Gorgie Farm Site Development and am looking forward to working with the Gorgie community, local organisations and a range of other stakeholders to develop a strong sustainable plan for the future of the site.

“The immeasurable passion, connection and impact Gorgie City Farm has had on people and the community is already clear to me and I cannot wait to capture more stories and get started.”

Cat Young will be working alongside Suzanne in the role of Partnership Facilitator, leading on participation and engagement for the project. Cat has a range of experiences to bring from her time working with Thrive Edinburgh – the innovative new strategy for improving the mental health and wellbeing of all citizens in Edinburgh.

Cat Young (Partnership Co-ordinator) said: “As a Gorgie resident I know first-hand how important this community-led project is and I look forward to working closely with Suzanne to continue the conversations that have already started around securing the site’s future.

“A key priority for the Steering Group is looking at ways to allow people to benefit from this green city space while the project develops. As a first step, Gorgie Farm Gardeners Group have been able to come back and start work on the gardens – bringing it back to life.” 

In the meantime the Steering Group has been meeting monthly to to discuss operational and strategic matters. Working with Bridie Ashrowan, EVOC’s Chief Executive, they have been responding to offers of help and interest and building connections with both local and citywide organisations, businesses, and networks – particularly in Gorgie and Darly, where there is a long-standing network of local community organisations.

Bridie Ashrowan commented: “It has been a hugely busy couple of months managing a range of safety and maintenance issues on the Gorgie City Farm site, but the offers of help and levels of interest in the project have been really moving.

“Now that we have Suzanne and Cat on the team we can move onto the next phase of the project – they both have lots of experience helping people and communities to influence the design of community spaces and services, and will play a key role in working towards a sustainable and visionary future for the site.

“We are planning some engagement events for the local community to help do that and will share details of these very soon.”

Regular updates about the Gorgie City Farm site project are available on the EVOC website including a set of frequently asked questions.