A well-loved city farm has been saved from closure after community donations raised £50,000 in just 48 hours.
Deen City Farm, a registered charity, has faced overwhelming financial pressures due to rising staffing, materials and animal feed costs, bringing them to a breaking point last week.
General Manager Emma King, 35, created the Just Giving page on Sunday 22nd September and was stunned to see the £50,000 target reached by Tuesday 24th.
King said: “We can’t thank all the supporters and local residents in the community enough, and we couldn’t have predicted that in just two days we could have raised that.
“Everything about this site is community orientated, and we want to be here for years to come to serve that same community.”
King was amazed at the response, as the fundraiser was mainly advertised via social media channels.
She said the funds were raised so quickly they didn’t even have the chance to put any information out physically on the farm.
The farm, which is free to visit, previously relied upon grants from Merton Council, but King said its annual grant has been reduced by 10% each year due to council-wide budget cuts.
Tracey Lambert, who was at the farm with her family, said: “I’ve been bringing my family here for almost 29 years, they’ve known all the animal’s names and it’s such a special place for us.
“It’s incredible they’ve raised so much so quickly, and I still get to bring my grandson here to see the animals.”
The farm, which attracted 136,000 visitors last year, is the most southerly of the 12 city farms across London and is visited by a range of schools from across south London, as well as schools from Kensington and Chelsea.
It provides work experience placements to over 200 children a year, and King said they have a lot of troubled youngsters coming in to get different experiences and seeing them develop makes it all worth it.
Despite receiving some funding, King said the council grant hasn’t covered the farms expenditure for many years.
The current grant is just 50% of what it was 4 years ago.
The farm now relies upon the generosity of visitors, fundraising events and animal boarding facilities to keep operational and maintain their charitable work.
King said: “The money raised has ultimately eased our pressures and the crisis moment is over, but it’s just a small drop in the ocean.”
Earlier this year, the farm raised £30,000 to fund fixing an electrical fault which ended up costing almost £80,000, resulting in massively depleted cash reserves.
Looking to the future, King said that she still has hope, but she doesn’t want to rely on community donations going forward.
The farm is now focussed on finding new grants and other revenue streams to ensure a sustainable financial future to allow it to keep up its charitable work.
