Gorgie City Farm was set up by local people over 35 years ago. Entry is free and we are open 363 days a year; 180,000 people visit the farm each year. The farm is a charity and relies on funding from the local council, charitable funds and donations. The farm site consists of:
We aim to educate city children and adults about farming and food production. We provide farm tours, education workshops and a playgroup for 2-3 year olds. We promote social inclusion by providing volunteering opportunities for people of all ages and abilities; many of our volunteers have learning disabilities and come to the farm with their support worker.
We aim to educate city children and adults about farming and food production. We provide farm tours, education workshops and a playgroup for 2-3 year olds. We promote social inclusion by providing volunteering opportunities for people of all ages and abilities; many of our volunteers have learning disabilities and come to the farm with their support worker. We provide school holiday farmer’s helper sessions for 8 to 12 year olds and weekend Young Farmers Clubs. We always have a long waiting list for people who want to work with farm animals. We provide work experience for vet students, and others who are studying animal related courses, and in our café. We also welcome groups of people from local companies who want to use their volunteering with us as a team building experience.
We have a small staff and the farm relies on a large complement of volunteers to be able to offer such a wide range of activities and services.
We measure impact by through a range of measures as agreed with over 24 referral agencies and these are based on number of support sessions undertaken, attendance levels, range of support services offered, community service support, educational visits and other individually mentored schemes. In addition to this we have direct reporting on separate grant targets which are dependent on the outcomes set as part of the agreement.