Bosavern Community Farm AGM

Posted on: 22nd December 2013

I attended the AGM of Bosavern Community Enterprises last Thursday. The position of the Lottery Funding was made clear in the statement from the Grants officer. Members were told of the Grant Officer’s confidence in the interim Board and if members chose to ‘throw them out’ the project was unlikely to become sustainable and so funding would not be continued. Some tough decisions had to be made to ensure that the farm had enough money to go into the New Year and to stand on its own 2 feet once the day to day funding from the Lottery ends, in April. Some members were understandibly cross that 2 part-time staff had to be made redundant, at this time of year, but the Lottery made it clear that, unless the Board showed itself capable of making difficult decision, to ensure the farm could continue longer term, the funding to buy the farm would be withdrawn.

Some felt that the farm was losing its commitment to the community or that the Interim Board had not been democratic. Trouble is without enough money to pay the bills there will be no community farm. The local community consists of a mix of views not a single view and with only a third of the farm under active cultivation there is plenty of scope for different stances to be accommodated, as long as people now unite behind the Board and ensure that the money coming in at least equals the money going out and preferably exceeds it so that some can be put by for those bad growing seasons.

The new Board consists of the 3 temporary Board members, Yvonne Bristow, Jill Neville and Rob Pickering plus 2 new members, Chris Nelson and Kate Beckly.

If you have not been there for a while then drop down and visit the new farm shop one afternoon.