'Charities need to be run as businesses' - new owners of former Gorgie City Farm lay out plans for the future

It has been one of Edinburgh’s best-loved institutions for almost 40 years.

Since its opening in 1982, Gorgie City Farm has grown and developed until last year it housed 100 animals, welcomed 200,000 visitors, supported and trained 237 volunteers, and delivered educational activities to almost 2000 children.

But in November 2019 disaster struck, and the farm went into liquidation with the loss of 18 staff jobs overnight.

The local community was devastated, but it was just one day before a crowdfunding campaign was set up and the people of Edinburgh began to fight to keep hold of a vital community project.

The farm has now been taken over by education and social care charity Love Learning, whose staff, along with five staff members retained from Gorgie City Farm after the liquidation, are working around the clock to get farm in its new incarnation as ‘Love Gorgie’ ready for the grand re-opening on Saturday February 29.

“Obviously we’ve got great plans but the main thing for now is getting the place open,” said Ms Bell.

"It's like a military operation getting ready for the end of the month."

She added: “The most important thing for us is that it’s the community’s farm, they supported it and they fundraised for it.”

More than £102,000 was raised by Gorgie Community Farm, a group of former Gorgie City Farm workers who led efforts to keep the project going.

The group will enter talks with Love Learning at the end of this month to make arrangements for the money raised.

A new dawn

Love Learning had no prior links with Gorgie farm, but the charity had six employees based in Edinburgh and was looking to expand both its activities in the city and its work with animal therapy and the environment when Gorgie City Farm collapsed in November.

Minor changes are already taking place, with the arrival of four new alpacas - Ranaldo, Kiwi, Truffles and Whitelaw - last week, two giant rabbits due shortly, and plans for seasonal visitors including reindeer and a young highland cow.

For the first time since November the farm opened its doors to volunteers this weekend to help get it ‘spruced up’ ready for opening.

Volunteers are also required next weekend throughout both days - with painting, weeding, cleaning, and putting up new signage among the tasks to be done. Skilled volunteers are also needed to finish the wheelchair ramp started by previous owners.

Ms Bell is adamant that the ethos of the farm will stay the same, focusing on a commitment to work with the community and especially children and vulnerable people.

It will also remain free to enter.

“We thought it should be free because there are so many people living in poverty who wouldn’t be able to come here otherwise,” said Ms Bell.

Animals no longer to be slaughtered

One major difference is that animals will no longer be sent to slaughter from the farm.

“We can’t please everyone,” said Ms Bell.

“We asked the community and some people said yes, the animals should be slaughtered, and some people said they shouldn’t.

“But when you create a therapeutic environment for vulnerable people and the animals are then going to be slaughtered... that doesn’t work.

"That said, it’s not a petting zoo, there is still a farm ethos and we’ll still focus on farm to fork education. We have some new animals like the alpacas, but alpacas are also farm animals, they are often brought onto farms to chase foxes away.”

Once the farm is up and running it will take on more staff and long-term volunteers.

One of the first projects will be to re-home the pigs and replace them with piglets, as the current pigsties are believed to be too small for pigs not kept for their meat.

A special focus on the environment will see the vegetable gardens redeveloped with two environmental charities, Unifying Fields and Permaculture Scotland.

The charity also has plans to develop optional paid-for activities such as ‘alpaca trekking’, for around £10 per person, which will contribute to the running of the farm.

The business of charity

Ms Bell hopes to lean on the fact that Love Learning is a larger organisation with more streamlined costs, supported by Love Corporate, which offers corporate training.

A revamp of the storage space behind the cafe could make way for a cookery school to run modern apprenticeships, also bringing in income, while former office space above could be used as a respite flat.

“Charities need to be run as businesses,” said Ms Bell.

“This place has been in liquidation twice, we wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole if we didn’t think we could do it.”

Ms Bell is now leading a dedicated team of former Gorgie City Farm staff who looked after the animals during the winter.

Among them are two sisters, Amber and Zia Vest.

Amber will become project manager for the farm.

Still in her early 20s, she is a young appointment to the role but has come up with so many ‘great ideas’ that Ms Bell decided to take a chance on her.

Zia, 31, will continue to look after the larger animals.

She has been working at the farm for a year but remembers visiting throughout her childhood.

“It would have been terrible to lose the farm from a learning and training point of view,” she said. “We’re really happy that Love have taken it over and it’s going to stay free to enter.”

Sarah Boyack MSP, who has been visiting the farm for 20 years, is positive about the changes planned by the farm’s new owners.

“It’s such a prize to have saved this place,” she said.

“The mixture of regenerating and reviving will be good for the area, and hopefully it won’t just keep the farm going, but give it a lift as well.”

The farm will be reopened to the public on Saturday February 29 by former volunteer and visitor Gail Porter.

Anyone interested in volunteering to help with preparations for opening should contact [email protected].