Last night Ben and I (Charlotte) travelled to London for the awards ceremony of Young Rural Entrepreneur of the year award. The nominations had been reduced to 5 finalists and we could not believe that we were within them. The others were amazing and had achieved so much in such a short time, yet Ben is still only earning £90 a week!
So you can imagine that when our names were read out as the winners, we were completely stunned. We did not know what to say and the speech for once was surprisingly short....
The evening was held at Purdeys (the famous gun makers) just off Park Lane in London and the awards were run and sponsored by 'The Field' magazine and 'Lycetts Insurance'. Both Ben and I are extremely grateful for all at the Field and Lycetts for the award. Creating the Fordhall Comunity Land Initiative was a journey that so many people were involved with. Offering their time and skills has allowed Ben and I to learn so much over the last four years, it has allowed us to save Fordhall and place it into community ownership, it has given us a 100 year lease on the land, and it has allowed us to make some great friends and have some great fun along the way.
With so many other young people trying to enter the industry but being blocked by high land values, we hope the Fordhall Community Land Initiative will be something that others can follow. It has certainly shown Ben and I that farms hold a much higher value to the community than simply food producers.
Yet, this is still the very beginning for us and Fordhall Farm. There is still so much to do and so many new projects to get underway, such as the online shop, the nature trail improvements, and renovations to the farm buildings. Ben and I even had to pack meat for the farm shop when we got home last night at 1.30am! There is no rest for the wicked..
The prize money will go towards renovations in the farmhouse and a new bull for Ben's growing herd of Aberdeen Angus'. We also hope to organise a thank you party for all our volunteers and supporters. Without you we could not have got where we are today.
Many thanks to Sophie, volunteers, shareholders and everyone at Lycetts and The Field.
Charlotte and Ben x
see the BBC website for the official release:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/7053312.stm
7 comments:
Dear Charlotte, Ben, Sofie and Everyone
Young Rural Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Wonderful News. Congratulations. Thoroughly deserved.
I'm now prompted to get around to applying for the extra Share I promised
to buy when Kathy and I called in at the Farm at the end of September!
Well done again.
Nick (a very minor shareholder)
Dear Ben, Charlotte, Sophie and all at Fordhall Farm. We have just had
news of your recent success as Young Rural Entrepreneurs '07.It is so good
to see that your fantastic work has been recognised and supported. We hope
that the funds may bring more dreams into fruition. Keep in touch and
hopefully we may all meet soon, perhaps at a working weekend. With warm
regards from all members of the Organic Futures board(Alice, Chinnie,
Nathan, Jemima, Jonathon and James)
Brilliant! Well done, and it shows that they recognise that there's more to being an entrepreneur than making money... Sally and I have now read both yours and Arthur's books, and they were inspiring. Even though I knew what happened in the end, my eyes were damp.
Keep it up, Matthew Simon.
Wow, congratulations Charlotte and Ben, I'm proud of you all! Wish I could be there to help you spend that prize money fixing the house up, save some for me to do in January!
Navy Dave
Hi Ben, Charlotte and the team
Congratulations on your recent award
Best wishes Bob Hockenhull
Dear Mr. and Miss Hollins,
I would like to send my congratulations to you on your well-deserved award. I read about your wonderful enterprise in the Daily Telegraph online some time ago, and wrote to my friend Graham Sedgely about it, only to discover in his immediate reply that not only did he know you, he was the first shareholder. It was an amazing coincidence.
Since then Graham has been keeping me abeast with developments at Fordhall on a fairly regular basis. I am well aware how fitting it is that you should have received this award.
If I come to England, as I hope to do within the next year, or at worst, the year after, I would very much like to visit Fordhall. Your story is one of tremendous courage and dedication.
Best wishes,
David Allen
Georgia,
United States of America.
CONGRATS CHARLOTTE AND BEN !!!
YOU'RE GOING FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH.
IT'S GREAT TO BE PART OF SUCH A DYNAMIC ENTERPRISE.
JANET
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