Community farm, Jubilee, is going from strength to strength

Jubilee, situated on the Glenburn Road, Larne, was Northern Ireland’s first ever community farm.

Their mission is to practice and promote care farming, community-supported agriculture (CSA), and conservation education and engagement, in a manner which inspires change within local churches and communities to care for creation.

The farm has been welcoming referrals from the Northern Health and Social Care Trust on a weekly basis since August.

Managing Director at Jubilee, Dr. Jonny Hanson, said that, while finances have to work, someone having a great time working on the farm is “wealth beyond all measure”.

“It has taken a while to get to this stage and Rural Support have been invaluable in getting it off the ground,” he added.

“Social farming is a flexible model, involving individuals in a full range of activities – these vary with the season.

“It’s teamwork, being outdoors in all weathers, working with plants and animals.

“The NHS staff enjoy it as much as everyone else and they benefit from it just as much as the other social farmers. Body, mind and soul, it is good for all of those things.”

Jonny explained how it ‘closes the farm to fork cycle’, with family members buying the produce on offer - “the social farmers are producing the food and their families are then buying it”.

The National Heritage Lottery Fund, meanwhile, has enabled a ‘Wildlife and Wellbeing Project’ to become a reality at the farm.

This £100,000 investment over three years will significantly expand the biodiversity conservation work at Jubilee Farm, the range of people and groups involved in this work, and the associated benefits for their social and mental wellbeing.

“To-date, the work has been at the top of the hill but we also have the wilder parts of the farm,” Jonny explained.

“It’s less focussed on food production and more on conservation and wildlife and the important role people can play by engaging in that.”

The project will deliver natural heritage management activities with ethnic minority groups and involve them in restoring the natural heritage of Jubilee Farm.

A biodiversity volunteer group from the local community and nearby churches will be involved in monitoring and managing the farm’s natural heritage too.

Jubilee will be future-proofing the farm by planting other species of trees and will run a number of workshops where people can go along to learn new skills.

They also hope to create better access routes, leading to the river where otters have been spotted!

As for community farming in Northern Ireland, Jonny believes there is a lot of potential but, at the moment, it remains relatively underdeveloped.

“There is a lot of potential for growth here,” he explained.

“It is a very flexible model that you can adapt.”

Jonny said he would like to see some more support in place for community farming in Northern Ireland.

He also believes it could be an option for farms where no succession is in place.

“A community farm structure could be the key to retaining the character of a small farm where there is no succession,” he stated.

“Back in the spring we delivered a course where we took everything we had learned over the past four years and passed this knowledge on to others.

“There were 15 participants from 10 different groups.

“There was a community organisation, a charity who are setting up a farming enterprise and a couple of family farms involved too.”

Jubilee Farm is now well enough established that they are looking to hire a community farmer for 29 hours per week.

You can find out more about the role and how to apply at https://www.jubilee.coop/

Calendars for 2022, with original artwork by their artist-in-residence, Anna Burcombe, are also available to order now.