Sustainable income diversification - AWF Sept 2022 (360G-WatesFdn-a1k6900000QCK8EAAX)

Core funding: The farm currently has a fundraising target of £140k to meet core costs and break even this year. The need to diversify revenue streams and become more self-sufficient is clear. Our new 3-year strategy and recently launched community café will see the Farm evolve as a local destination. We will need dedicated time and resources to be able to maximise on the opportunities associated with this to provide the level of unrestricted funding we will need going forwards. A Business Plan has been professionally developed to scale-up farm produce for sale as part of the café menu, and turned into products to be sold in a new Farm shop coming this Autumn. Outputs will be increased using a social enterprise model that benefits the Farm?s social impact project participants; providing new opportunities to connect with nature, overcome mental health challenges and find meaningful work experience opportunities, whilst promoting biodiversity and nature recovery. With funding, our Director and Communications Lead will establish the systems and processes needed to increase visitor donations and contributions towards unrestricted income and enhance delivery of our charitable aims. Areas for development over the next 12-months include: increasing on-site donations; launching a new farm shop; growing more food and developing products that can be sold on site and at farmer?s markets; establishing the new café ensuring it is profitable in its first year; establishing our Roots to Work programme, providing skills, training and work experience opportunities to help people back to work; launching a new alternative provision programme for young people that don?t fit into mainstream education; re-launching our membership; going live with a new website and embedding new branding across the site; and launching a public fundraising crowdfunder campaign. These are just some of the income generating activities in the pipeline that we would be able to prioritise with additional core funding.