an tobar cic

What an tobar cic does

An Tobar C.I.C. is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company founded in April 2018 by sisters Margaret Finnegan and Kathleen Finnegan-Agnew in Silverbridge, Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland. The organization operates a wellness centre and 40-acre working farm within the Ring of Gullion Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on land farmed by the Finnegan family for over 300 years. Its core activities are nature-based wellbeing interventions, including social farming placements for participants with learning disabilities and mental health clients, therapeutic horticulture (ecotherapy), educational gardening programmes delivered to 16 local schools, and Brian's Wood — a native woodland of over 14,000 Irish trees planted since 2019 with funding from DAERA and the Woodland Trust. Ancillary community-facing services include Libby's Tearoom (a community café opened 2015) and Cafe Amach (a safe space for LGBTQ+ young people and adults, opened March 2022), plus the Memory Trees Ireland dedication programme launched in 2022.

The business model is grant-and-donation funded, supported by at least 17 institutional partners including the National Lottery Heritage Fund, DAERA, Education Authority, Public Health Agency, Southern Health and Social Care Trust, Woodland Trust, and The Ireland Funds, supplemented by a transactional consumer stream via Memory Trees dedications and café sales. Revenue is not publicly disclosed. Participants are referred through health and social care trusts, schools, and direct community bookings, with marketing conducted primarily through organic social channels (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter). As a CIC with asset-lock provisions, profits are reinvested into the community mission rather than distributed. The underlying technology is minimal — there is no proprietary platform, API, or digital product layer; the website operates as an information and booking channel only.

An Tobar is governed by a board including Co-Founders Margaret Finnegan and Kathleen Finnegan-Agnew, Chairperson Una Walsh, Treasurer Teresa Nugent, and directors Stephen McClelland, Patrick Finnegan, and Ann-Marie Hatzer. Operational staff include a Community Development Officer, Catering Manager & Project Support, and Administrator. The entity is privately held with no parent company, private equity, or venture capital backing identified, and it operates solely within Northern Ireland.

Name

an tobar cic

Legal name

An Tobar C.I.C.

Website

https://antobarcic.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Short description

An Tobar C.I.C. is a Northern Ireland not-for-profit social enterprise delivering nature-based wellbeing services — social farming, therapeutic horticulture, school gardening, and community café programmes — to people with learning disabilities, mental health needs, school children, LGBTQ+ individuals, and bereaved families from a 40-acre farm and woodland site in South Armagh.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Wellness and Social Farming Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry (115), Landscaping Services (561730), Support Activities for Forestry (115310)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700), Forestry (800), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Agroforestry & Shelterbelt/Windbreak Establishment (AFAMACAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Outdoor, Adventure & Recreational Wellness Education (Hiking, Breathwork in Nature) (EDAAAHAO), Private Wellness & Retreat Experiences (Personalized Spa, Yoga, Healing) (THAJALAI)

Keywords

• Social farming services
• Therapeutic horticulture programs
• Ecotherapy wellbeing
• Community social enterprise
• Memorial tree dedication

Headquarters

HQ city

Silverbridge

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Social Farming Services: Social farming placements for participants with learning disabilities and mental health clients, delivered on a social support service basis rather than commercial fee-for-service model.
2. Therapeutic Horticulture Programs: Social and therapeutic horticulture sessions providing ecotherapy and wellbeing programs for community members.
3. Memory Trees Ireland: Tree dedication program allowing individuals to dedicate trees in Brian's Wood with customized plaques and certificates, generating revenue through tree dedication purchases.
4. Cafe Operations: Community café operations including Libby's Tearoom and Cafe Amach, serving the local community and LGBTQ+ community members.
5. School Gardening Programs: Educational gardening programmes delivered to schools, likely funded through education authority partnerships.
6. Grants and Fundraising: The organization is a not-for-profit CIC relying heavily on funding from government agencies, lottery heritage funds, and charitable foundations including DAERA, Education Authority, Public Health Agency, and The Ireland Funds.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

An Tobar C.I.C. operates a wellness centre and social farm delivering nature-based wellbeing services to community members in South Armagh. Its core offerings include Social Farming placements on the working farm for participants with learning disabilities and mental health needs, Social & Therapeutic Horticulture (ecotherapy), School Gardening educational programmes, Brian's Wood native woodland visits, Memory Trees Ireland dedications, and community cafe services through Libby's Tearoom and Cafe Amach (an LGBTQ+ safe social space).

Product overview

An Tobar C.I.C. is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company operating as a wellness centre and social farm. The organization offers a portfolio of interconnected community health and wellbeing services: Social Farming provides placements on working farms for people with learning disabilities and mental health needs; Brian's Wood is a native woodland featuring nature trails, poetry trails, and a fairy trail; Memory Trees Ireland offers tree dedication services for commemorations; School Gardening delivers educational programmes to 16 local schools; Social & Therapeutic Horticulture provides ecotherapy through gardening activities; and Cafe Amach & Libby's Tearoom offers community cafe services including a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. The services are designed to improve mental and physical wellbeing while building community resilience and combating social isolation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Libby's Tearoom: A social hub cafe for the local community that opened in 2015, supporting rural community members of all ages and abilities.
• Cafe Amach
• Memory Trees Ireland
• Brian's Wood

Products and services

• Social Farming Social farming placements offered on the working farm as a social support service for participants with learning disabilities (3 days per week) and mental health clients (1 day per week), with the farm remaining operational and participants joining day-to-day farming activities.
• Cafe Amach & Libby's Tearoom Community cafe services combining Libby's Tearoom (a community social hub opened in 2015) with Cafe Amach, a safe, social and empowering space for LGBTQ+ young people and adults opened 25 March 2022, with all staff LGBTQ+ trained.
• Memory Trees Ireland Tree dedication service allowing individuals to dedicate a native Irish tree in Brian's Wood as a lasting tribute, with each dedication receiving a bespoke plaque and personalised certificate; over 13,500 new native Irish trees have been added.
• Brian's Wood Native woodland visitor attraction of over 14,000 trees including Nature Trails, a Poetry Trail and a Fairy Trail, named in memory of two uncles; first tree planted by President Michael D. Higgins on 7 March 2019 with funding from DAERA's Forestry Expansion Scheme and the Woodland Trust.
• School Gardening Educational gardening programmes delivered to children from 16 local schools, aimed at improving physical and mental health, promoting healthy eating, local biodiversity and environmental awareness.
• Social & Therapeutic Horticulture Ecotherapy using gardening tasks and the garden environment as a safe, secure place to improve physical and mental health, communication, thinking skills, social ability, and to learn practical skills for greater independence.

Quantifiable outcome

• Social farming placements for participants with learning disabilities (3 days/week) and mental health clients (1 day/week)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered major, supporting and core.

• Southern Health and Social Care TrustmajorOthersHealth and social care trust providing referrals and supporting social farming and therapeutic horticulture programmes for participants with learning disabilities and mental health needs.
• Rural SupportsupportingOthersRural support organisation supporting the rural community.
• Ring of Gullion Landscape PartnershipsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerLandscape partnership based in the same AONB area as An Tobar, supporting environmental and heritage initiatives.
• Community Development and Health NetworksupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork supporting community development and health initiatives.
• Rural Health PartnershipsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership focused on rural health issues supporting An Tobar's health and wellbeing mission.
• Cafe Amach PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Cafe Amach creating a safe, social and empowering space for LGBTQ+ young people and adults, officially opened 25th March 2022. All staff are LGBTQ+ trained. The space is for LGBTQ+ people and allies.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Thrive: UK charity that uses gardening and horticulture to support people with disabilities, mental health needs, and dementia — directly comparable to An Tobar's therapeutic horticulture and social farming work.
• Social Farms & Gardens: UK-wide membership charity supporting care farming and community gardens; runs the national care farming code of practice, making it the closest sector umbrella peer to An Tobar's social farming model.
• The Sensory Trust: UK charity connecting people with disabilities and sensory needs to nature and outdoor environments, overlapping with An Tobar's ecotherapy and disability inclusion activities.
• Real Farming Trust: UK charity supporting agroecological and social farming enterprises; comparable to An Tobar's working-farm-as-social-support model in rural Britain.

Broad incumbents

• TCV (The Conservation Volunteers): UK-wide environmental volunteering charity that also runs wellbeing-in-nature programmes; broader portfolio but overlapping on community environmental engagement and health-and-nature initiatives.
• Groundwork UK: Federation of environmental regeneration charities across the UK delivering community programmes in disadvantaged areas; comparable on community-led outdoor wellbeing activities but at greater scale and broader scope.
• The Wildlife Trusts: UK federation of 46 wildlife trusts running nature reserves with education and wellbeing programmes; overlaps with An Tobar's woodland trails and biodiversity education offering.
• Mind: Leading UK mental health charity that has begun incorporating ecotherapy and nature-based programmes; comparable to An Tobar's mental-health-clients-on-social-farming (1 day/week) service line but at vastly larger scale.
• Royal Horticultural Society: UK gardening charity that runs community gardening programmes and has therapeutic horticulture initiatives; overlaps with An Tobar's social/therapeutic horticulture work as part of a much wider portfolio.
• Woodland Trust: UK woodland conservation charity that co-funded Brian's Wood (and could in future partner again); comparable on native woodland creation, public engagement, and tree dedication concepts.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CicTobar
• Facebookfacebook.com/tobarcommunity
• Instagraminstagram.com/amachni
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/an-tobar-wellness-centre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 an tobar cic