Quotes and Endorsements from some of our Supporters

 

“Projects of this kind are absolutely critical not just in themselves, but because of the inspiration they give others to think differently about their own relationship with the land and the environment. Its just fantastic to see Charlotte and Ben Hollins taking on that kind of challenge”

Jonathan Porritt, Founding Director of Forum of the Future.

 

“As the one time president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) I support with all my heart the Fordhall Community Land Initiative and wish them every success for the future”

Prunella Scales

 

“Much or the beauty of the English Countryside lay in its countless farms like Fordhall: now that so many have gone, it is vital to ensure a future for those that remain such as Fordhall Farm”

National Office, CPRE.

 

“This Initiative can go a long way in reducing the huge disconnect between people and their natural environment”

Vicki Herd, Press Officer, Friends of the Earth.

 

“There has already been one lost generation of the 1980s and we don’t want to lose this one. Ben and Charlotte are a perfect example of how young people’s passion can make a difference. They are an inspirational example to us all”

Patrick Holden, Director, Soil Association

 

“North Shropshire District Council welcomes the efforts to enhance the farming and conservation value of Fordhall Farm. The Farm is now protected from urban development in the new North Shropshire Local Plan. Much of the land is also identified as an Area of Special Environmental Interest where the Council looks to help protect and enhance the site's ecological, archaeological, historical and amenity value. The District Council also encourages appropriate developments which are helping to achieve farm diversification. The emerging Fordhall Project proposals appear to strongly support such aims”

M J Scott, Head of Development Plans and Promotion

North Shropshire District Council

 

“As a food family manager working in Market Drayton I am keen to see an educational resource being developed at Fordhall Farm. Children need to stay in touch with where and how food is produced to enable them to see the bigger picture in which they live. Health and well-being, the welfare of animals on farms, farm life and the health of the environment are all important and children should be given the opportunity to make the connections between them. If children (and their families), are able to see good farming practices that encourage biodiversity and wildlife to exist this can only serve to enrich their understanding of farming and its possibilities for a healthier future for us and the planet. Fordhall farm can offer a perspective to children which would be a shame to lose and as a result, I am happy to sit as a director on the Interim board, to help in whatever way I can.”

Rebecca Syrett Shropshire PCT Shirehall, Shrewsbury

 

“Stroud Common Wealth strongly supports the community buyout of Fordhall Farm, to secure affordable access to the farm for young farmers, to ensure the farm keeps farming and delivers a wide variety of public benefits such as access to wildlife, nature, walks, events, heritage and education. If successful, Fordhall will be as inspiring a beacon to England as the 1997 Isle of Eigh community buyout was for Scotland . This sparked the Scottish Land Reform act which ensures villages across Scotland get the funding and technical assistance they need for community land trusts. We are assisting the Fordhall Project as far as we can by aiding in the creation of ‘Fordhall Community Land Initiative’ through covering the legal and technical fees that are required to do this.”  

Martin Large, Leader, Stroud Common Wealth’s Community Farmland Trust Project, and University of Salford ’s ‘Capturing Value’ Team.  

 

 

“ It is vital that Fordhall Farm regains its organic status to enable the farm to fulfil its potential of becoming an education centre where the public can learn about the ecology of food production and healthy eating and a real live resource for schools . The Stafford Soil Association Group whole-heartedly support this Initiative and although we can not input any finance into this project, we will provide our time and knowledge of organics as far as is practically possible”

Bryan Hunt, Stafford Soil Association Group

 

“Fordhall Farm offers the community a unique opportunity to have a green outlet for recreation, refreshment and education. Taste of the Town Company supports this project 100% and will offer networking as well as my time on the committee’s board to make the Fordhall Community Land Initiative the success it deserves to be"

Philippa Atkey, Secretary for Market Drayton Taste of the Town Company

 

 

“There can be no doubt that the greatest loss of wildlife in the past 50 years has been due to intensive farming. Parts of north Shropshire have become a virtual desert. Techniques pioneered at Fordhall Farm show there is another way. Sustainable and productive farming can co-exist with wildlife. Shropshire Wildlife Trust is proud to support the Fordhall Project.”

John Hughes, Development Manager, Shropshire Wildlife Trust

 

 

“As you know, we are accountable to the public from whom we gain our charitable funds, and therefore must be seen to be spending such in the best possible way. We believe that your plans for a community facility at the farm are a worthwhile cause.”

Roy Cole, President of Market Drayton Lions Club

 

  "As a business advisor I'm passionate about small businesses. They represent the life-blood of the UK economy, whatever their market sector. I'm passionate too about doing what I can to help those businesses succeed – so passionate, in fact, that I focus far more on getting a result than on getting a fee for my efforts.   I'm acutely aware of the decimation of our farming heritage and I despair of the planners and developers cutting swathes through the green belts. I'm aware also that commercial pressures have led some farmers to bombard their land with a chemical cocktail and I know, as a former practising chemist, that these toxins pass through the food chain into our bodies. So when I heard about Fordhall Farm, a local small farming business with two dynamic business people determined to make it work, fighting off the developers, refusing to bow to the temptation of intensive methods I knew I had to do whatever I could to help.   Over the past eight months or so I have given them marketing and business advice, written a business plan and helped them to raise funding for Fordhall Farm Limited. I've helped them to shape the way forward for the Community Land Trust and prepared them (hopefully) for the rough road ahead. And my fee? Realistically, it should be around £15,000 to date but I won't be invoicing them for that. I guess if they pay my expenses and throw in a sausage or two I'll be happy, the rest they can have as a gift in kind. And what of the future. I've been asked to sit on the interim Board of the Community Land Trust and act as its Treasurer, posts that I will be proud to accept and of course I'll continue to provide advice to the business for as long as it takes to make it succeed."

Ron Makins, Strategia Consulting, Stoke-on-Trent

 

  

“The Fordhall Land Partnership flags up the commitment of a younger generation to the tradition and values underpinning life and work in the countryside. It offers not only economic and social benefits to our rural community but a new creative energy.”

Jeff Hopkins, Chairman of Market Drayton Economic Development Forum

 

 

 

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