Chagfarm, a new not-for-profit Community Interest Company located in Chagford, Devon, has launched an ambitious Crowdfunder Campaign ending on 28th March.

The 8-week campaign will see the Farm Directors, Sylvan and Davon Friend, seeking £15,000 for more farming equipment and facilities to expand their raw goats’ milk dairy and ensure the continued resilience of the local community’s food supply.
After successfully achieving its first year targets of turning over £12,000, the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) enterprise, is on a mission to show that their business model is financially viable by recruiting an additional 25 new members by April 2014.
Individual donations of over £500 and under from the philanthropic Crowdfunder community and beyond will enable Chagfarm to:
1. Build a milking parlour for the five milking goats
2. Construct a cheese cave to enable production of Chagfarm’s own goat milk products, including uniquely flavoured cheese, milk and yoghurt
3. Carry out essential repair work on the farm roofs
4. Invest in solar panels as the farm is currently without mains electricity
In exchange for a donation, a wide-variety of bespoke rewards are up for grabs, including everything from a hand-crafted cheese board and the privilege of naming one of next season’s milking goats, to an introduction to the art of hedge-laying and an VIP dining experience at the farm.
With conventional farming already very heavily subsidised and little funding available for small-scale farming, crowd-sourced funding is needed to help secure the future of Chagfarm.
“We’re really excited about our Crowdfunder Campaign and hope that our exclusive foodie-based rewards and farming experiences will tempt people beyond our local community to support a low-impact, high-welfare food production,” said Sylvan Friend, Founder of Chagfarm.
“We’ve got a tough second year ahead of us and the 15,000 if reached, will certainly help us to expand and continue to demonstrate that fantastic local food for local people is both affordable and sustainable. We believe that the way we produce and consume food needs to drastically change for the better and if we can reach out to other like-minded people via Crowdfunder, then we’re one step closer to self-sufficiency,” continued Friend.
To make a donation and support the local food renaissance, please visit the Chagfarm Crowdfunder page here or keep up to date with the campaign by following the farm on Twitter @Chagfarm and on Facebook Chagfarm CIC.
Discover more about Chagfarm’s subscription-based farming initiative, its goats’ milk dairy, free-range pork, woodland poultry and honey, by visiting their website here or attending one of their Open Days on every third Sunday of the month.