Aviva Community Fund is providing live match funding
Help Oxford City Farm Bounce Back After Flooding
by Oxford City Farm in Oxford, England, United Kingdom
Total raised £12,431
+ est. £1063.75
£40,000 stretch target
30 days left
248%
160 supporters
Your donation will release extra funding
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 8th November 2024 at 5:01pm
We want to rebuild OCF after flooding, restore lost produce, prevent future floods, and continue offering free community farming sessions.
by Oxford City Farm in Oxford, England, United Kingdom
New stretch target
We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and your kind messages. Thanks to your generosity, we have met our target to cover the immediate costs of the damage caused by the recent floods in just 24 hours! Your support will enable us to act quickly to begin restoring lost produce, rebuild planting beds, and take steps to prevent future flooding.
But we know that the work doesn’t stop here.
We’re now setting a stretch goal to ensure the long-term sustainability of Oxford City Farm. As we’ve exceeded our initial target, the additional funds will go towards covering our core operational costs – the essential foundation that keeps everything we do running smoothly. These costs are the backbone of our work and include:
- Volunteer support and expenses, ensuring we can continue to engage and thank the incredible volunteers who give their time to the farm.
- Kitchen supplies and maintenance, so we can provide cooking sessions that teach people how to prepare nutritious meals from fresh, seasonal produce.
- Growing materials and site maintenance, which are vital to keep our farm productive, sustainable, and a place for people to engage with food and nature.
- Animal care, including feed, veterinary costs, and maintaining safe enclosures, so our animals can thrive as part of our educational and therapeutic activities.
- Utilities like electricity, water, phone, and internet, which allow us to maintain a welcoming and functional space for all visitors.
- Health & Safety services, insurance, and staff training to ensure we remain safe, compliant, and able to deliver our programmes at a high standard.
In the past year, Oxford City Farm engaged over 7,000 attendees through 101 community farming & visitor sessions and partnered with 30 organisations to deliver 300 field-to-fork sessions. These programmes promote wellbeing, teach people about sustainable food systems, and foster a sense of community.
By reaching our stretch goal of £40,000, we can secure the resources needed to continue offering these essential activities, ensuring that more people can benefit from the farm’s work.
Every donation is now doubled, thanks to the match-funding commitment from the Aviva Community Fund, so your contribution will go twice as far in supporting Oxford City Farm’s long-term future.
Oxford City Farm is an accessible green space in the heart of the city that connects people with their food and nurtures community wellbeing and the environment. We work with a range of local organisations to deliver engaging land and kitchen-based activities related to food, farming and the environment. Participants include children, vulnerable adults and people experiencing mental health challenges.
"We started with a 2.5 acre degraded school site and have worked tirelessly as a community to create a fantastic urban farm,” says Nicole Titera, OCF’s Farm Lead. “We use ecological farming methods to grow food that is shared with volunteers and distributed locally to get fresh seasonal produce onto the plates of people who might otherwise have limited access to it. Excess harvest is sold to local restaurants and colleges to earn the income that we need to continue to offer invaluable community activities and nurture sessions for free."
In late September more than 90mm of rain fell in just 24 hours - nearly double the average amount for the whole month in just one day! “We were relatively protected by our local brook but rainfall this month was unprecedented and it just couldn't drain away fast enough. It affected 70% of our growing spaces, we were fortunate that our buildings were unaffected as they are built nearly a metre off the ground for just such eventualities and our animals remained safe.” says Nicole. This resulted in the loss of 725kg of produce, valued at £4,200.
To prevent future flooding and ensure that our operations continue, we urgently need your support to clear culverts alongside the brook to increase our resilience to extreme weather events, purchase seeds and compost to rebuild our planting beds, and build back the loss of income that keeps our services running.
“It takes a lot of work to provide inclusive opportunities for people to engage with farming and food production, animals, nature and each other,” says Nicole. “In addition to our efforts to recover from the recent flooding, can you help us to continue to offer free community farming session or pay-what-you-feel cooking and wellbeing sessions for more than 7,000 people each year?”
The impact of our work shines through in the words of those who volunteer and visit the farm.
"I like to be with people with similar problems, normally it’s not like that. Everybody’s so nice and friendly. It helps me get away from it all (other difficult things in my life) coming here. [My mental health] got worse in general since last year but that’s because of stress at home. I really look forward to coming here, it’s really important to me for getting out and about."
"I love love love the warm welcome I always receive when I am there, whether I've been coming regularly or once in a blue moon, it's always inviting. To me, it’s also a great way to learn as a community. I never know where to start with some things, and the things I learn just through a conversation during a tea break - with delicious cake!!! It is just literal food for thought."
"I appreciate that I can engage with the farm without the pressure of failure if something doesn’t grow. It’s a fantastic way for me to stay active and connected to the earth and plants...I genuinely believe in the mission of the farm."
Your support will help us continue our work, offering vital services that promote wellbeing, community connection, and sustainable food systems. Together, we can make a lasting impact on both our community and the environment.