Our Resilient Green Spaces programme team in Wales are excited to announce £100,000 of available funding to support the purchase of farmland for agroecological farming with long-term community benefit.
This month, the Resilient Green Spaces programme are launching an opportunity for people in Wales to apply for up to £100,000 towards the purchase of farmland that will be used for community benefit and to provide new and ongoing opportunities for new entrant agroecological farmers.
The opportunity will only be open to not-for-profit organisations that are established to deliver public or community benefit, are incorporated and have an asset lock (e.g. a community interest company, charitable company, charitable incorporated organisation or community benefit society).
The funds will only be able to be used for the purchase of land, not for associated capital equipment or any other investment purposes.
The purchase must be completed by 31 May 2023 and purchasers must commit to undertaking a survey of the land before purchase.
Priority will be given to purchases that:
- are taking land out of private (or potentially public) ownership and into community ownership
- are connected to a community e.g. located close to a town or city
- aim to create broad public benefits
- will create opportunities for new entrant farmers e.g. through the creation of FarmStart plots
- aim to provide ongoing opportunities to future new entrant farmers (ie a rolling intake of new entrants/reinvestment of initial funds into further land purchases)
- will support or connect with other local food initiatives such as Food Hubs, orchards and allotments
If you want to make sure that you are informed of this opportunity when it is launched please fill in this form.
If you have any questions please contact: mark@sharedassets.org.uk
Resilient Green Spaces is a £1.27m partnership project being led by Social Farms & Gardens to pilot alternative re-localised food systems using communities and their green spaces as the driving force for change across Wales until June 2023.
This project has received funding through the Welsh Government Rural Communities - Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.