We are opening our doors for a community volunteering day every Wednesday (10am-1pm) for anyone aged 16+ to come down and get involved in practical tasks on our vegetable growing site.  We'll be working together on various land-based, horticultural and crafts tasks in the fields and polytunnels so this is a great opportunity to get outdoors, learn new skills and meet new people.

We'll be providing tea, coffee and biscuits. As the days are getting colder, we will also start offering soup made with own organically-grown vegetables produce, served in our dome classroom.

Please wear suitable footwear and bring waterproofs and gardening gloves, if you have them. Whatever the weather, there will be plenty to do – and with three large polytunnels and classroom dome, we'll always have a wet weather plan! 

To let us know you're coming, or if you have any questions about the day, just contact Collette Littler, Volunteer Co-ordinator, on 07847 824 910 or email volunteersbcf@gmail.com 

The farm is located by the Rivacre Business Centre, entrance from Mill Lane, CH66 3TH.

To make sure we don’t add to food waste in our area, we are delivering any leftover fresh vegetables to Trinity Church Cafe, Ellesmere Port. 

Across the UK, 15 million tonnes of food is thrown away every year. In 2012 alone, 1.2 million tonnes of fresh fruit, vegetables and salad - worth £2.6 billion - was wasted. At our farm at Mill Lane we didn’t want to add to this waste so now any fresh vegetables that aren’t sold through our veg-boxes or at our pop-up shop on Thursdays, get delivered to the church cafe. Here the volunteers use our fresh produce to cook up some delicious meals. 

We are proud that we are able to give something back to our community and, at the same time, contribute to reducing food waste and more people enjoy our organically-grown vegetables.

On Thursday 24 September we are hosting a fundraising coffee morning at Mill Lane, taking part in the world-famous Macmillan’s Biggest Coffee Morning. 

We will be joined by local schools serving tea and coffee as well as offering delicious cakes and cookies, all baked by local volunteers in aid of this very worthwhile charity. The event will run from 9:30am until 11am. 

As well as drinks and cakes pupils from local primary school, St Mary of the Angels will be offering some light entertainment and there will also be games and a raffle. 

Guests can meet staff to find out more about how the farm operates and the volunteering opportunities we have on offer. There will also have the chance to buy some of the vegetables grown on the farm when our shop opens at 11am. 

Collette Littler, Volunteer Co-ordinator said, “We enjoy bringing our neighbours and local residents on to the farm so they can see what we are doing here. The coffee morning is a great way for us to get to know each other much better, whilst raising money for a wonderful cause.” 

For more information about the coffee morning please contact Collette by emailing volunteersbcf@gmail.com

Local families from the Parklands and Westminster areas of Ellesmere Port flocked to Bridge Community Farms on Wednesday August 26^th to celebrate the success of a fun and interactive family project. 

The Parklands and Westminster Family Project has been a year-long programme of activities delivered by local health-promotion group Healthbox CIC. The aim of the project is to encourage local families to lead healthier lifestyles and enjoy cooking and eating together. 

The project has been run through Parklands Children’s Centre and Westminster Primary School and partner with Parklands Primary School and Plus Dane Housing. Over the past year, families have taken part in various sessions including cooking on a budget, money management and ‘seed to plate’, which included growing and planting activities as well as cookery. 

The celebration day at the farm was planned and shaped by the families and included a delicious, healthy lunch, face painting, a bouncy castle, playdoh pizza-making, planting, crafting and a hula hoop zone. 

Congratulations to all families that took part!

There are a few more photos on our Facebook page - check them out.

Earlier this month we were delighted to welcome a group of young people from the Youth Fed Ellesmere Port National Citizen Service (NCS) who chose Bridge Community Farms as the partner for their social project.

The Youth Federation is one of the North West’s leading youth charities providing support to 5,000 young and vulnerable people aged from eight to 25 years every year. Youth Fed inspires more than 2,000 young people aged 15–17 every year to engage in social action and delivers the Government’s National Citizen Service across Wirral, Halton and Cheshire. Through a combination of residential programmes and works shops, NCS equips young people with life-enhancing skills and helps them to build a new network and engage with community groups.

Two NCS groups came along to plant flower beds in our mandala garden in memory of a friend who very sadly took his own life. Mandala is Sanskrit for ‘circle’ and so our mandala garden comprises several beds in the shape of a circle. The garden will be used as a therapeutic environment for people with mental health problems and who may themselves be experiencing suicidal feelings. Research has shown that getting outdoors and doing activity such as gardening can help alleviate depression and other mental health problems – this kind of therapy is known as ecotherapy.

The NCS volunteers spent several days with us planting up the garden and on the final day the Deputy Mayor of Ellesmere Port, Cllr Lynne Clare, paid us a visit and admired the young people’s work.

See more photos on our Facebook page.