Organic farm appeal reaches 700 shareholders

An appeal to buy part of an organic farm has reached more than 700 shareholders after overcoming setbacks.

The campaign to purchase Babbinswood Farm near Oswestry, Shropshire, started in 2024 and had wanted to raise £1.4m to buy the whole farm, but it failed to reach two fundraising deadlines.

The Babbinswood Farm Community Benefit Society said it had raised £280,000, which meant it could put in an offer on almost 18 acres of land and was a step closer to purchasing it.

Casha Bowles-Jones, who works at the farm and is the fifth generation of the family to farm there, said: "It's really incredible, it says a lot about what this farm means to so many people."

The farm was put on the open market in 2025, after Bowles-Jones said it had to be sold because of a family break-up.

She added that she wanted to ensure it remained an organic operation.

Society director Patricia Gibbons said it hoped to complete the first purchase of the 18 acres "as soon as possible".

The society started the purchase process in January after a "major breakthrough" when it reached £260,000 and exceeded its minimum fundraising target.

A spokesperson for the society said the shareholders and private donors were "all united in putting the land into community ownership and safeguarding its organic status".

"It's a wonderful feeling to know when people get together they can really make a difference", Bowles-Jones added.

Gibbons said more than £20,000 had already been raised towards securing the next piece of land, an adjoining field, valued at £110,000.

"We need to keep the momentum going", she said.

"The more land we can buy, the more will be farmed organically and the bigger the possibilities for the community."

A spokesperson for the society added that once it had secured the 18 acres it planned to work with local people to reinstate the market garden for community growing opportunities, and potentially establish an orchard and flower meadow to attract bees, other insects and wildlife.

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