Gibside Community Farm

Gibside Community Farm was established as a member co-operative Community Interest Company in 2013. Gibside National Trust have kindly supported us by allocating 3 large plots within the walled garden and have leased us a 14 acre (5.8ha) field on Fellside Road near Burnopfield.

New members can join us at any time, the membership fee is £52 a year. New members can be:

*Workshare members who work for an average of 4 hours a week (180 hours a year) by gardening or contributing to the development of the co-op in exchange for a small share of the crop.
*Cropshare members who pay £32 a month for 9 months for a small share of the crop for 36 weeks. (This fee includes the membership fee).
*Volunteer members who work as much as they want to and take some veg when they are on site.

Gibside Community Farm is committed to:

*Growing fresh, tasty, seasonal and local produce
*Reducing food miles
*Growing to organic principles which promote the health of people and the soil, working with living ecological systems, ensuring fairness and caring for the well-being of current and future generations.
*Making fruit and veg available to all sections of the community
*Sharing skills and knowledge about growing fruit, veg and flowers
*We sell veg on our display shelves in Gibside (donation box), at local farmers markets and to other local veg box schemes.

As a member co-op, all members can influence the direction of the co-op by attending our general meetings. These are currently held monthly. We also have sub groups to do the detailed planning work and all members are welcome to join these groups. These are:

*Growers group which decides on what to grow and where
*Funding group which applies for funding support
*Management and finance which oversees the co-op and its finances

For more information, please visit our website.