Sutton Community Farm, just outside Wallington, is struggling for financial survival, saying that is running at a “significant loss”.
Run as a co-operative, the farm has attracted 450 community shareholders since it was established in 2010.
The farm receives most of its funding from the City Bridge Trust and the National Lottery, plus sales of its produce and veg boxes to the public across Sutton and Croydon.
It is run by seven full-time staff and other volunteers but is now appealing for more support from Sutton Council to help keep it going. The best the LibDem-run local authority has had to offer so far has been to “promote the farm in its publications”. Which is hardly going above and beyond… It turns out that the council has not even managed to keep that cheapskate promise.
“Our relationship with the council doesn’t lead to much benefit to us as a community enterprise,” said Sutton farmer Sonia Cropper (this week’s winner in our nominative determinism competition).
Boxing day: the veg box operation at the Sutton Community Farm. They need more customers
“They made some suggestions on how they could help, that they didn’t deliver on in the end,” Cropper said.
“They have digital billboards and they said they would put us on their billboards for free, but that never happened. We have had various meetings with their comms team… but it never really leads to anything.”
The farm is within the London Borough of Sutton, but the land is owned by Surrey County Council, leaving the farmers in a kind of local authority no man’s (or woman’s) land, uncared for by either council.
Sutton Council told the BBC that it is a “a great supporter” of Sutton Community Farm’s work. “We have been very happy to promote their amazing community work in our publications regularly over the past year,” they claimed.
- Inside Croydon – as seen on TV! – has been delivering local community news since 2010. 3million page views per year in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
- If you want real journalism, actually based in the borough, you should consider paying for it. Please sign up today. Click here for more details
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content
Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
- Inside Croydon works together with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, as well as BBC London News and ITV London
ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for a SIXTH successive year in 2022 in the annual round-up of civic cock-ups in Private Eye magazine
We’re all caught in a “Council no man’s Land”