Save Babbinswood Farm

Hello to everyone,

What a truly amazing month. Thank you so much to every shareholder and donor, to everyone believing that we can save this place - we are now approaching £130,000 in total funds raised, with over £10,500 raised just in the last week! ❤️ (A large part of that was from one donor - massive shout out to them, thank you so so much for your generosity!❤️)

This means we are over halfway to £250,000 as we approach that deadline. An effort that has been genuinely grassroots. Thank you all so much for your support and trust. We could never express the appreciation fully, but we hope you feel it from the land when you visit the farm.

Below are updates on: the 30th of September deadline and the Business Plan minimum and AGM.

🌳 6 days to deadline: what does it mean for us all?

As you'll all be aware, we are fast approaching the deadline of the 30th of September. 

This is the point at which the vendor (landowner) can no longer promise to give the CBS first refusal on buying the land. The landowner has waited a long time to facilitate the community purchase and we are so grateful, but her financial situation means she can't wait forever. Other buyers via the open market are going to come sniffing very soon. 

What this means for the campaign is that the CBS will very soon be in a position where we no longer know how much time we have. Another buyer could arrive next week. What we do know is that there is thankfully nobody else lined up at the moment, so this isn't the end for us. We are going to keep fundraising for as long as we can to save as much land as we can. It's not over till it's over. We have raised nearly £130,000 so far through pure people power, and that community is continuing to grow every day.

This situation – that we are now up against other possible buyers, rather than a set deadline – is hard to represent well via the Crowdfunder endpoint, which does risk a bit of confusion, but we have decided to keep the fundraiser open to allow us to keep taking on shareholders and fundraising in a public way until the very last moment. We will keep the fundraiser open with a date-end of 31st of December this year, and this change will be reflected on the page soon.

We don't want people viewing the page to feel a false sense of security about how much time we actually have, but we also can't lose hope or stop trying. We are still gaining members each day and confident that the message continues to reach people!

So, while we have reached deadline on the first refusal and we are now more pressured than ever before, we are so inspired to keep pushing to save as much of this farm as we can.

Thank you so much for building these funds and giving the next person more confidence that this can be done. 

Keep talking about Babbinswood Farm. It's not over till it's over. We can do this!!

🌳 The results of the shareholder consultation and upcoming AGM 

Thank you to every member who filled in their shareholder consultation. Your perspectives have been crucial in shaping the revised minimum target amount in our Business Plan (please see our August update).

The lovely comments and your opinions on land use were all collected and reviewed, and we sent out our conclusions from this to members with their AGM invites. These changes to the Business Plan will be ratified by the members at the AGM next Tuesday (on the 30th September).

Watch this space for updates! And please get in touch if you are a member who has not received an invite to the AGM so that we can provide you with one.

Some photos from the past few months!

A juvenile cormorant landed in the cow fields! The girls were very excited. This one stayed for a few days. You can tell that the cormorant is young because of the light colouring on the front, which will fade after a few years. We are so happy to be saving a place that provides a safe refuge for wild creatures. 

The traditionally managed hedges full of fruit. Hawthorns, sloes, crab apples. Casha, Barbara and team take the time to cut them rather than flailing, and this is supposed to be much better for hedgehogs and other wildlife! 

We do have hedgehogs living happily on the farm - one was captured on their nightly wanders on our trail cam, you can see the video here 🦔🦔🦔

A farm tour during the Shropshire Good Food Trail's closing ceremony in late August!  I think Casha might have been pointing over to Martin's Lane here, or the native woodland we are so committed to putting into community ownership.

(For more images, and to see a birds-eye view of the farm shot by Olly Boon at Earth Repairs, please see our Instagram!)

Saving this place is for everyone - for the wildlife, for farmers, for food security, for connecting with the peace of the land and education. 

We need organic land in community hands rather than lost to the whims of the market or political expediency. 

We want to give people a hopeful place that they know they can come to and trust that the living world is being looked after, and we know that this is possible and desperately needed.

Don't stop talking! It's not over till it's over.

Please let us know if you have any questions, and shareholders we look forward to seeing those of you that can make it at the AGM next Tuesday!

All the best,

The Directors here at Babbinswood Farm CBS 💚