Plan My Project - Case Studies

Sustainable Food and Farming Centre

The Sustainable Food and Farming Centre, at Netherfield in East Sussex supports and co-ordinates the development of sustainable farming and local food links in the region. It is a partnership between Plumpton College and Common Cause.

It assists farmers and growers to increase their incomes through diversification, processing, environmental management and local marketing; and it stimulates demand for, and access to, local produce.

It also supports and enhances the rural economy, landscape and biodiversity; reduces food miles; and stimulates greater participation in training and education.

The Centre is staffed by a full time Co-ordinator, a part time Advice and Training Co-ordinator and a part time Information Officer. The total value of the 2 year project was £216,500 and there were around 500 beneficiaries in total.

The Sustainable Food and Farming Centre is a ‘drop-in’ Centre where farmers can get business and technical advice. It offers a programme of training events, talks, seminars and farm walks; encourages cooperation between producers; coordinates local farmer networks; and acts as a demonstration organic farm with Countryside Stewardship schemes.

Common Cause spent 18 months researching OATES - Organic Agriculture Education in East Sussex – before designing this project. This included similar systems in France, Wales and East Anglia.

There was considerable consultation over the whole of Sussex with the farming community and many organisations involved with organic cultivation and conservation.

The conclusions and recommendations from the OATES project led directly to the bid to create a Sustainable Food & Farming Centre, and provided the vision and the objectives for the project.

Common Cause knew it needed a partner to deliver what the farming community had indicated they needed. Plumpton College was thought to be the best option although others were considered.

There was a very capable project team and senior members of Plumpton College brought strategic expertise confidence and security to the project managers. Job Descriptions and Person Specifications were in place for all the roles.

The project met or exceeded all its objectives and outputs including the following

Attracted 166 “first contacts"
Assisted 51 farm businesses
Delivered 218 training days
Assisted 8 farmer networks and 2 Cooperatives
Trained 11 young people in rural skills
Assisted 7 Retail outlets to increase sales

This project has increased the local capacity for educating farmers in sustainable techniques and as a resource it continues to have an impact.

The sustainability of the centre was not considered at the start, neither was self-financing considered. The project was treated as a pilot and the outcome was therefore not certain. It planned to generate some income from fees for training etc; and to seek further public funding if the project was a success.

In the event a second bid to leader plus was successful and enabled the Centre to continue to operate and to deliver a new range of innovative services.

It now seems likely that, due to the great success of the project, Plumpton College may take over the funding of the Centre using its core funds, thus ensuring its longer-term sustainability.

To see the full evaluation report for this project click here.

To email the project manager click here.

To see other case studies click here.