Extending the volunteering programmes and creating a ‘welcome to groups’ package for Bath City Farm


Mental health benefits of Bath City Farm
The benefits of attending some of Bath City Farm’s activities were clearly demonstrated from the farm’s feedback which showed that since attending the farm in 2019:
84% report improved mental health
84% report improved physical health
14% have reduced the amount of support they receive from Mental Health Support teams
10% have been discharged completely
13% report visiting their GP’s less
12% have reduced the amount of medication they take
83% feel less isolated
83% feel more confident
78% report improved personal life

Charity: Bath City Farm

Project: Extending the volunteering programmes and creating a ‘welcome to groups’ package

Grants: £6,000 per year for three years

Key achievements:

  • 10 projects designed to help adults and children facing adversity delivered in 2018-19
  • 109 people with a mental health diagnosis attending our Grow it Programme to support their recovery.
  • 42,000 visitors to the farm in 2018-19

With support from the Medlock Charitable Trust and others, Bath City Farm has continued to grow its diverse volunteering programmes and visitor packages.

In 2018-19 Bath City Farm welcomed 42,000 visitors who came to connect with nature, food and farming as well as using the site for recreation, therapeutic workshops, community events and educational visits.

The farm occupies a lovely 37-acre plot sitting on the hill between Twerton and Whiteway with amazing views over Bath. Since its founding by a group of passionate volunteers in 1990, it has grown to boast 100 animals, 12 staff members and more than 50 volunteers. As a charity, the farm is heavily reliant on private funders and donors to run its many community projects and services.

Its dedicated team of staff and volunteers delivered 10 projects in 2018-19 designed to help people combat mental ill-health, drug dependency, social isolation and unemployment.

Each project was delivered as part of the farm’s two key programmes:

Roots to Health – supporting adults with complex health and social needs.

Branching Out – working to improve the lives of children and young people facing adversity.

Through the 10 projects rolled out under these two banners

  • 109 people with a mental health diagnosis attended the Grow it Programme to support their recovery.
  • 102 older people attended the Feathered Friends programme to address social isolation and loneliness.
  • 55 people who have a learning disability attended one of the two work and personal development projects.
  • 36 vulnerable young people aged five to 16-years-old attended one of the three environmental youth projects.
  • 64 people attended the Families at the Farm programme for families facing adversity through domestic abuse.
  • 86 people attended the general volunteering programme to help look after the animals, gardens and wilder spaces on the farm for the benefit of everyone.