oxford city farm
Our vision At Oxford City Farm our vision is of empowered communities learning
and working together to produce food locally and live healthy, enriched and
sustainable lives. Mission We work to promote environmental awareness, community
cohesion and wellbeing by offering learning and practical opportunities for
people to interact with the land, farming and animals. We have turned a derelict
site into a vibrant city farm, bringing farming and food production to the heart
of urban communities in Oxford. Values We value diversity, equality,
empowerment, community cohesion and sustainability. We value the diversity of
our local neighbourhoods and recognise the contribution that all members of the
community can offer. We strive to work creatively to ensure equality of
opportunity for all. We aim to work in ways that empower people to work together
to make positive sustainable change in their communities. Our Story A committed
team of trustees, volunteers and staff have been working to bring city farming
to Oxford since 2008. We are a diverse group of local people with broad skills
and experience in areas such as health, youth work, planning, community
development, teaching, training, fundraising, horticulture, ecology and
veterinary medicine. In 2017 we secured a 40 year lease for the site and, thanks
to support from a wide variety of funders and our wonderful community we now
have essential infrastructure including mains water, electricity, toilets, hand
washing facilities, an office and since the spring of 2021 our fantistic
Community Kitchen. We started running regular community farming days in 2017 to
enable our community to get involved with the work of the farm, in particular
developing infrastructure and supporting growing. We have also developed
partnerships with schools and other organisations to increase participation in
our work and to introduce more people to the farm.