Social Farms & Gardens | Ffermydd a Gerddi Cymdeithasol

What Social Farms & Gardens | Ffermydd a Gerddi Cymdeithasol does

Social Farms & Gardens (Ffermydd a Gerddi Cymdeithasol) is a UK-wide registered charity founded in 1980 that supports community farms, school farms, community gardens, care farms, and allotments nationwide. Headquartered in Newtown, Powys, with regional teams in London, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland, the organization serves a network of 3,500 member organizations, including 200+ city and school farms and hundreds of additional farms and gardens in development. Its core product is a membership-based service offering including quality assurance (Green Care Quality Mark), land and planning advice (Community Land Advisory Service), member insurance, training, events, publications, and grant-funded programs such as Camau Gwyrdd, Tyfu Powys, Have a Grow, and the Reclaim the Commons Network.

The organization's revenue model is a hybrid of membership fees, annual Green Care Quality Mark accreditation fees (£100/year), training and event fees, insurance brokerage, and grant funding from institutional sources including the National Lottery Community Fund, UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Welsh Government, and corporate partners such as 1% for the Planet, HelloFresh, and Natracare. Technology infrastructure is operational rather than productized: SF&G operates on CiviCRM for membership records, mailings, and event registration, with a Google Maps integration powering a public member map. The Green Care Quality Mark assessment framework is described as a domain-specialized quality assurance system, site-specific and assessed by experienced green care providers.

Distribution is regional and community-led, with services delivered through UK-wide regional teams, an online portal, and events. The organization is patronized by HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh and led by President The Lord Curry of Kirkharle Kt CBE. It is a founding member of the Green Care Coalition and participates in the European Federation of City Farms. In 2024, SF&G joined the GreenME Consortium, a four-year Horizon Europe research project on nature-based mental health interventions. The charity operates with 37 employees.

Name

Social Farms & Gardens | Ffermydd a Gerddi Cymdeithasol

Legal name

Social Farms & Gardens

Website

https://farmgarden.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Social Farms & Gardens is a UK-wide charity, founded in 1980 and headquartered in Newtown, Wales, that supports a network of 3,500 community farms, school farms, gardens, and allotments through membership services, quality assurance, training, grants, and regional teams across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Farming Support Services

NAICS

Soil Preparation, Planting, and Cultivating (115112), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (BPAGAGAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Centers & Neighborhood Support Services (BPAGAEAL), Rural Livelihoods & Economic Empowerment (BPAGABAA)

Keywords

• Community farming support
• Care farming services
• Community gardens network
• Green care quality mark
• Allotment management

Headquarters

HQ city

Newtown

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Annual membership fees from community farms, city farms, school farms, community gardens, care farms, and allotments across the UK.
2. Green Care Quality Mark Certification: Annual accreditation fee of £100 per year for green care providers seeking quality assurance certification.
3. Grants and Fundraising: Funding from National Lottery Community Fund, UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Welsh Government, and other institutional funders for specific projects and initiatives.
4. Training and Event Fees: Revenue from workshops, training sessions, and events such as the Accessible Design and Woodworking workshop (£35 for members, £42 for non-members).
5. Insurance Services: Insurance products offered to members through specialized brokers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Social Farms & Gardens is a UK-wide registered charity that supports communities to farm, garden and grow together. It delivers value to a 3,500-member network of community farms, city farms, school farms, community gardens, care farms and allotments through membership services, the Green Care Quality Mark accreditation, Growing Care Farming support, the Community Land Advisory Service (CLAS), member insurance, training and events, and grant-funded community-growing projects such as Camau Gwyrdd and Tyfu Powys.

Product overview

Social Farms & Gardens is a UK-wide charity that supports communities to farm, garden and grow together. The organisation offers a portfolio of interconnected services including the Green Care Quality Mark (a quality assurance accreditation for green care providers), community growing projects like Camau Gwyrdd and Tyfu Powys, the annual Have a Grow celebration initiative, and networks such as the Reclaim the Commons Network and School Farms Network. Additional services include Growing Care Farming support, the Community Land Advisory Service (CLAS) for land access, insurance for members, and publications and resources. The organisation does not operate as a technology product company but as a membership charity serving community growing organisations across the UK.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Have a Grow: Annual celebration of community growing across the UK
• Green Care Quality Mark
• Growing Care Farming
• Community Land Advisory Service (CLAS)
• School Farms Network
• GreenME Project

Products and services

• Green Care Quality Mark Quality assurance accreditation for green care providers, helping care farms, community gardens and therapy providers meet commissioner standards and demonstrate quality to NHS and local authority buyers.
• Have a Grow Annual UK-wide celebration of community growing through which member groups open their spaces to new visitors and volunteers and can access funding support to run events.
• Community Land Advisory Service (CLAS) Specialist advice service helping communities and member organisations access land and navigate planning considerations for community growing projects (with a Wales-specific CLAS Cymru variant).
• Insurance for Members Insurance products tailored to SF&G member organisations operating community farms, gardens and growing spaces, offered through specialist insurance brokers.
• Growing Care Farming Support service for care farming providers, helping member organisations deliver green care and therapeutic horticulture programmes for health and wellbeing outcomes.
• School Farms Network Network (originated by SF&G in 2004) connecting practitioners at UK educational farms and school gardens, sharing resources and delivering training for land-based education.
• Camau Gwyrdd (Green Steps) Three-year Wales project funded by the National Lottery Community Fund that connects established community organisations with climate-action groups to take first steps towards community-led climate action.
• Tyfu Powys 2024 project supporting Powys community sites with orchard training and development to help local people grow food, stay active, learn skills and improve health.
• Reclaim the Commons Network Northern Ireland network of community growing projects (e.g., alley gardens and community gardens in Belfast) that coordinates communication between community growers and local decision-makers.

Quantifiable outcome

• 83% of children interviewed agreed that being in nature makes them very happy (Natural England study)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• GreenME Consortium (Horizon Europe Project)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Multi-country European research initiative studying how exposure to nature can be integrated in healthcare systems to treat and improve mental health. Led by Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), includes 17 consortium partners across 6 European countries plus UK and US. Project duration 4 years, funded by Horizon Europe.
• NatracareminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for hot composting pilot at four women-led member sites. Natracare provides composting bins and validated compostable period products. Part of Natracare's Project #BeKind campaign.
• Dementia AdventureminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to help community green spaces become more accessible for people living with dementia through training workshops and design adaptations.
• HelloFreshminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership to support SF&G members in running food education activities with families and children. HelloFresh provides Curr-EAT-ulum Garden Syllabus toolkit and grants for community projects.
• 1% for the PlanetminorGTM or Marketing PartnerGlobal environmental certification that SF&G has joined as an environmental partner. Businesses donate 1% of sales to support environmental organizations like SF&G.
• Green Care CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSF&G played a founding role in this coalition promoting Green Care services in the UK. Coalition includes Garden Organic, The Wildlife Trusts, TCV, Thrive, and other nature organizations.
• Growing ConnectionscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOrganization now managing the School Farms Network (SFN), run by former SF&G staff. Provides face-to-face and online training for those working with schools that garden and keep animals.
• The Wildlife TrustsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Green Care Coalition and co-advocates for green social prescribing schemes that can save NHS millions through nature-based interventions.
• European Federation of City FarmsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational federation that SF&G participates in, including attendance at AGM in Brussels.
• School Farms NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork started by SF&G in 2004, now managed by Growing Connections. Connects educational farms and gardens across the UK.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Garden Organic: UK charity dedicated to organic growing and gardening research, education, and community projects. Directly comparable as a fellow Green Care Coalition partner with overlapping member audiences in community gardens and school growing programmes.
• Thrive: UK charity using gardening to bring about positive changes in the lives of people living with disabilities or ill health. Directly comparable in therapeutic horticulture/social and therapeutic horticulture services and Green Care Coalition partner.
• TCV (The Conservation Volunteers): UK charity connecting people with nature through volunteering and green care activities. Comparable membership-style charity with similar Green Care Coalition partnership and overlapping therapeutic horticulture/care farming audiences.
• Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming: UK alliance of organisations advocating for sustainable food and farming, including community food growing. Comparable as an advocacy and coalition organisation supporting community food initiatives overlapping with SF&G's sustainable agriculture mission.

Broad incumbents

• Soil Association: UK charity focused on organic food, farming, and land use certification and advocacy. Comparable in agricultural/food system mission and policy advocacy, but operates at significantly larger scale with a broader national remit than SF&G.
• Plantlife: UK wild plant and fungi conservation charity working across the UK. Comparable as a nature-focused membership charity with similar regional presence and overlapping audiences in community gardens and conservation education.
• The Wildlife Trusts: UK coalition of 46 wildlife trusts operating a membership model similar to SF&G, with overlapping focus on nature-based activities and co-partner in the Green Care Coalition. Comparable in mission (connecting people with nature) but broader in scope, covering conservation rather than community food growing.
• Royal Horticultural Society (RHS): UK gardening charity promoting horticulture through education, community gardening, and school programmes. Comparable in school gardens and community growing focus, but operates at much larger scale as the UK's leading gardening charity.

Others

• City Farms (e.g., Vauxhall City Farm, Hackney City Farm): Individual city farms (e.g., Vauxhall, Hackney) that are themselves SF&G member organisations. They are constituent members rather than true peers, but they represent the type of community farm member SF&G serves and competes for as a constituency.

Emerging players

• Sensory Trust: UK charity helping disabled people and disadvantaged groups connect with nature through inclusive design. Comparable niche focus on inclusive nature-based activities, including partnerships with Dementia Adventure (a SF&G partner).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/socialfarmsandgardens

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Social Farms & Gardens | Ffermydd a Gerddi Cymdeithasol