Fordhall Organic Farm have been nominated by employee Marie Gibson as a Chamber Champion saying "There are a small number of staff still working really hard and it would be great for them to get the recognition they deserve."
Read why Marie sent in her nomination:
Fordhall Organic Farm normally runs educational projects for young people who struggle in a school setting, fun activities for families, a care farm letting adults with learning disabilities join in farming activities as well as a cafe, function/meeting room and glamping accommodation. However, all of these have been cancelled/closed down due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
There are a key team onsite still keeping the farm shop running and the local area supplied with essential grocery items. They have adapted to offer a local delivery service for those shielding as well as offering delivery into people's cars that wish to collect, additional to the usual national delivery service they offer. Many changes have been made to make the shop a safe shopping environment and they have also joined with Taylors Organic Dairy to offer a milk vending machine to meet the growing needs of their customers.
The shop team have been very aware of the needs of the wider community at this challenging time and in April donated and delivered a hamper of home made Fordhall pork pies to the NHS The Redwood Centre in Shrewsbury, who are working hard caring for patients with acute mental health problems, dementia and rehabilitation needs.
A team of two from the Cafe (Arthurs Farm Kitchen) have remained onsite to assist the shop and offer takeaway ready meals. Under the guidance of the Manager, Charlotte, on VE Day they delivered hampers containing cream teas, pork pies, wartime music CDs, lavender pouches, wartime poems, blue, red and white pom poms to local care homes. This involved baking hundreds of scones and to ease pressures on the staff they were all jammed and creamed for them too! Such an amazing effort.
You can read more about this HERE
On their nomination, Charlotte Hollins said:
"We are all very honoured to receive the nomination. We are living in strange and hard times, and we recognise that it is particularly hard for the staff and residents working in care at the moment, so we wanted to do what we could to share a little foodie joy.
"Fordhall is a community-owned farm. We would not exist if it were not for the community support we have received over the years. We have been overwhelmed by the local support during this pandemic too, with many choosing to support local shops and producers. That relationship works both ways and our team have felt extremely proud to be doing everything they can onsite to provide a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone who visits Fordhall.
"We are pleased to say that our farm trails remain open and it has been wonderful to see families enjoying our landscape at this difficult time.
"Everyone has been extremely respectful and supportive of the safety measures we have onsite, and we are so grateful for their support and cooperation.
"This month would have marked Dad's 105th birthday, had he still been alive. Both Ben and I are sure he would have loved to see so many members of our community benefiting from Fordhall at this time.
"We sincerely hope that the wonderful sense of community and compassion that has grown through this pandemic remains for many more years to come."
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