Friday, October 08, 2010

Good News - Funding Awarded!

After a very long wait from the grant body for the Renovation of the Old Dairy, Advantage West Midlands, we were put forward to their approval panel today and approved! Whoop whoop :-)

The last few weeks and months have involved a lot of emails back and forth, supplying more evidence and answering their questions. Obviously, with the budget cuts everyone is watching their money very carefully and we were beginning to get concerned that the funding level would be dropped considerably.

However, the team at our Regional Development Agency, Advantage West Midlands, are very supportive of our project and are really keen for it to succeed. They see the vital benefit that Fordhall has for the local community and for tourism in the area. They want to help us involve more people in the farm and spread the wonderful message of local food, conserving our natural environment and living sustainably. A big thank you to Jo Jury at the Regional Development Agency who has held our hand through the whole process and been a fantastic support.

The funding came through the Rural Development Programme for England and will contribute 40% towards the project costs. The exciting result is that contractors will be on site early November. So, we still hope to complete the bulk of the work by Easter 2011, so you can all pop over for your tea and cake!

A lot of work has gone into this application by the team at Fordhall Farm, but special thanks must go to Sharon Jones for her many hours spent working on the application, to our board for their guidance and positive support and not least to all of YOU. Without your support during our desperate appeal in July, this funding would not have been released.

This building will be built in memory of our later father, Arthur Hollins. Without his dedication to organic farming Ben and I, and all of our shareholders, would not have the wonderful foundation that we have at Fordhall today. It is his legacy and his philosophies of life and nature that will be exemplified through the new building and through its use for the local and wider community.

This marks an important step for the Fordhall Community Land Initiative. It creates the ability to take more formal educational groups and the ability to generate our own revenue to support this educational work. The management team will now go over the budgets to check that everything is still on track and that we are achieving the highest environmental standards we can within the budget that we have for the building. All funds raised from now on will allow us to improve those credentials, exchanging more energy intensive materials for more natural and sensitive alternatives (click on the link below if you would still like to contribute AND have your name on the plaque inside the building).

Many, many thanks once again and warmest wishes to you all - now to the beginning of another important journey for Fordhall Organic Farm.



Charlotte Hollins

(FCLI Manager)

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Fantastic news

Unknown said...

Help to raise funds for the Project and the kids who will use it.

I am selling2 collectibles on Ebay and the money raised will go via Paypal to Fordhall Farm to make a difference...Why not do the same.Just find something around the house you no longer need and list on Ebay for sale..It's fun to watch things unfold and know what good you ar doing.

Here is my link..take a look or make a bid...You know you want too..

http://k2b-bulk.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MyEbaySellingActiveListings

Kelvin Baines
Plymouth
England

Paul said...

To Charlotte,Ben,Hannah and all the FCLI team,
Congratulations on your magnificent achievment in getting the funding for
the old dairy renovation work. A tribute to all your dedication and hard
work. I'm looking forward to watching the building progress and would be
only too pleased to help further where I can. Whoopee!!
Best regards,
Paul, Shropshire shareholder.

Lorna said...

VERY WELL DONE - A REAL ACHIEVEMENT - HEARTFELT THANKS FOR ALL YOU ARE AND
CAN DO! I'M SURE ARTHUR HOLLINS IS LOOKING OUT FOR YOU ALL!

Lorna Extence

David and Juliet said...

Fordhall

Well done! You deserve success.

David & Juliet Amery

Phyl and Don said...

Yippee!!!!

Phyl and Don Lachlan (Portsmouth shareholders)

Mike said...

That is fantastic news!! Congratulations guys!

Best wishes

Mike Perry, shareholder
(Plunkett Foundation)

Rosemary said...

Great news, congratulations!!

Look forward to seeing you in the new year when we return for part 2 of James' archaeology project..!!

Best wishes to you all,
Rosemary

Carol said...

Yes!!! Excellent. Well done. And all the best.

Mary said...

That's fantastic news, well done to everyone!

Mary Britton

Peter said...

Well done! I'm delighted.

Peter, Norwich

Philippa said...

Truly amazing news - esp. in view of the cutbacks all round. What a
responsibility!
all good wishes
Philippa

Peter and Kirsten said...

Dear Friends,

We are just so delighted with this amazing result. Congratulations to all
your team and, of course, to the numerous shareholders. We are pleased to
have contributed ourselves. It is good, in these difficult times, to have
some excellent news for a change!

We have it in our plans for 2011 to come up to see you from our sleepy
little corner of Sussex, not such an easy task as we are OAPs in our 70s.

All the best and good luck with the construction work.

Peter and Kirsten Heroys

Marian said...

great...so glad.....at last good news

Derek said...

Many congratulations on achieving success. Well done the Team.

Derek McBride

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this. Many congratulations .

The Muirs

Pete said...

Well done & good luck with the project

Pete

Janet said...

Congratulations to all of you. So pleased all your efforts have paid off.
Look forward to following your progress.
Warmest,
Janet