Always on
This project successfully funded on 1st February 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Join us to make Kindling Farm flourish
Prescot, Merseyside, United Kingdom
Aim
Help grow our pioneering wildlife-friendly agroforestry project & join us for our second growing season on Kindling Farm.
Help grow our pioneering wildlife-friendly agroforestry project & join us for our second growing season on Kindling Farm.
A few years ago, 800 people joined us in buying our 78-acre farm between Liverpool & Manchester, establishing a community-owned, climate-, wildlife- and people-friendly vision for sustainable food and farming.
Since the Summer of 2023, we’ve been laying the foundations for our ambitious plan to grow good food for everyone. Despite many challenges, we've had a really successful first growing season in 2025 and learnt many valuable lessons — now we need your help to make our second growing season a success!
“We just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to the whole Kindling Farm team for what we consider an incredible first season of trading together. The quality of the crops has been outstanding and you can really see the care going into each one."
Veg buyers, Unicorn Grocery
There are huge financial hurdles to start out in farming, and with prices for everything so much higher now—from timber to second-hand machinery—we are asking you to support us and get involved.
We have been hugely successful in securing grants to develop our charitable activities and improve the farm for wildlife, but there are very few grants available to purchase the costly infrastructure needed to start farming from scratch.
With your help, we will continue to transform this conventional farm, previously intensely farmed for animal feed, into a flourishing, large-scale organic fruit and veg farm, with hundreds of fruit trees lining abundant alleys of veg crops.
"Last year's Crowdfunder appeal raised over £11,000 supporting us to plant over 300 apple trees, establish thousands of strawberry plants, purchase an additional tractor and donate fresh produce to in-need families over Christmas, amongst other wonderful things. This year, with your help, we are going to continue to grow the farm and flourish in 2026. "
Helen, Cofounder & Director.
Our rewards make great Christmas gifts!
Participate in our Crowdfunder before the 10th December and we'll post a thank you card and certificate to reach you or a loved one before Christmas.
Any support is hugely welcomed and we hope we have provided opportunities for every aspect of the farm and for all pockets. From a £30 gifted organic veg bag to a family in need, to £100 to plant a majestic oak tree, to joining others to buy new farm equipment!
Crowdfunder information
"As we prepare for our second growing season in 2026, this Crowdfunder is as much about starting relationships and raising awareness around food and farming (both the impacts and solutions) as it is about raising funds. So we would encourage you to find out more about our unique farm and perhaps visit us this coming Spring. Having said that we are in real need of financial support to realise the potential of our amazing far, so please do check out our lovely rewards and the impact your support would make."
Chris, Cofounder & Director.
We haven't set a fundraising target as any support, no matter the size, will really help. Many of our supporters say that Kindling Farm provides them with hope and inspiration, and we would love it if it did the same for you — and for you to come and visit one day! In the meantime we hope that this Crowdfunder provides a way for you to help make it happen, while also providing a fabulous 'reward' for you or someone you love to enjoy into the future.
About Kindling Farm
"Kindling Farm is a unique and exciting opportunity to pioneer organic agroforestry methods, support more wildlife and connect as many people as possible with food. Having given the soil a much-needed rest, we now need to get the crops in the ground and become an economically viable working farm." Abi, Director.
We have been hugely successful in securing grants to develop our charitable activities and improve the farm for wildlife, but there are very few grants available to purchase the costly infrastructure needed to start farming from scratch.
With your help, we will continue to transform this conventional farm, previously intensely farmed for animal feed, into an organic fruit and veg farm. This will involve rows of hundreds of fruit trees, with fresh seasonal veg growing in alleys between the tree rows. This year, crops like squash, beetroot, kale, strawberries and cabbages have filled the fields, while an abundance of tomatoes and spring onions filled the polytunnels.
This system of farming is the best way we have seen for regenerating and maintaining a good healthy soil, managing water sustainably and rebuilding natural eco-systems that both improve wildlife habitats and help control pests and disease in the crops — a winner for us and nature!
To transform food and farming, we know we need to be more than a farm. We therefore have broad aims & objectives:
- Promote sustainable land use by becoming a pioneering agroforestry farm.
- Increase consumption of local, seasonal and directly traded goods.
- Strengthen local economies and create meaningful livelihoods.
- Support change makers by providing training, inspiration and resources.
- Foster symbiotic relationships between urban and rural partners.
- Support local communities through training and volunteering to improve skills, health & well-being.
- Provide low impact housing for the benefit of the local community.
- Promote and practice co-operative ways of working and living.
About agroforestry
Simply put, agroforestry means farming with trees — within the fields, not just around the edges. This is beneficial (and amazing!) for many reasons. Tree roots grow deep into the ground, storing carbon in the soil. They cycle nutrients and bind the soil together, preventing it from being eroded by the wind or the rain. And they provide great habitats and wildlife corridors throughout the fields and across the farm.
Our system at Kindling Farm will have rows of fruit trees every 24 metres, leaving an alley to grow other crops. This results in an incredibly efficient use of land, using both the horizontal and vertical space to diversify the crops. It spreads the harvests (and therefore costs and income) across the year, and the provision of biodiversity habitats within the productive area encourages natural pest control.
Our legal structure
Kindling Farm is a not-for-profit Community Benefit Society with charitable objectives. This means we are owned by our Members, work for the benefit of our communities and that the farm is held in trust for future generations.
Our Members are those who have invested with us in buying the farm: 800 people like you, who have invested £200 or more.
The Kindling Farm team
We are a dedicated team who have several decades of experience of food and farming projects. We have, in fact, been working to establish Kindling Farm for over ten years. Before that, we were involved in setting up other successful projects, such as Bridge 5 Mill in Manchester and Woodbank Community Food Hub and Market Garden in Stockport.
FAQs
Are these rewards available as Christmas gifts?
Yes! Support our Crowdfunder and choose a reward before the 10th of December and we’ll post a certificate and seasonal gift card. We’ll be in touch for these details so please keep an eye on your emails!
What’s the deadline for the Organic Veg Bag?
If you are gifting an Organic Veg Bag to a family in need you will need to make that donation by midnight on the 7th of December.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made