Surrey Docks Farm

"has always been a way of connecting people, even in its early days.”

First established in 1975, Surrey Docks City Farm may have changed a lot in the past 49 years, but it has remained true to its primary objective: providing an urban population a tangible link to farming.

The original site on the docklands in London was transformed into a farm by local residents. “The site’s original industry was coming to an end, and it was quite a deprived, derelict area with a lot of unemployment,” says Gemma Hooper, manager at Surrey Docks City Farm. “Initially, the founders were growing vegetables on this unused land and keeping some goats to manage the weeds, who also provided some milk. Local schools thought it was amazing and wanted to bring their children for a visit. It all grew from there.”

Demand was so great that the farm was relocated to its current site in 1986. Situated on the Thames Path, the farm looks straight across to the north of the river to Canary Wharf.

“We’re all about connecting local people with farming, the natural environment and where their food comes from.”

“The contrast between the farm and Canary Wharf is crazy. But we’re all about connecting local people with farming, the natural environment and where their food comes from, which is obviously very important in central London,” Gemma explains. “We’ve stuck to our roots of Londoners being involved, bringing people in and getting them hands on, helping them care for the animals, and growing fruit and vegetables.”

A working farm, Surrey Docks has a selection of livestock and poultry, which provides meat and eggs for the on-site farm shop. “We’re open seven days a week and it’s free to enter – people can see where their food comes from and buy some of it too,” Gemma says. “We have lots of discussion and debate about meat eating, sustainability and the importance of animals in the cycle, for example we grow amazing fruit and vegetables by using our livestock’s manure.”

“A working farm, Surrey Docks has a selection of livestock and poultry, which provides meat and eggs for the on-site farm shop.”

Creating a ‘farm family’ at Surrey Docks Farm

The farm is a popular visitor attraction, but Gemma is quick to point out that it is so much more than that. Around 150 primary school classes visit each year, predominately from the local area but from further afield in London too. “For many it’s their first time seeing a cow,” Gemma says. “We do workshops so they can get outside and get hands on. In the autumn they will pick apples in the orchard and then press them to make apple juice. We also make butter and flour with them.

“We try to get kids to understand the importance of farmers and the role farming plays. Everyone talks about what they had for breakfast and then we link it back to the farm and how it’s involved in our lives. By the end they’re all cheering for farmers! “We’re trying to get people really thinking beyond the food that magically appears in the supermarket. We want them to understand the seasonality of food and food miles – this starts from a young age, but I’ve had quite a few teachers tell me they’ve learned something they didn’t know.”

"We’re trying to get people really thinking beyond the food that magically appears in the supermarket. We want them to understand the seasonality of food and food miles."

The farm’s involvement with local children doesn’t stop there. Youth clubs for children aged eight to 18 welcome around 60 young people onto the site each weekend. “Giving young people responsibility and ownership is really important,” Gemma explains. “A lot of the 18-year-olds started coming here when they were eight. The clubs are led by the participants, and they can choose what they want to do.

“A group of teenage boys who started coming here when they were little kids are now making herbal teas – they collect the produce on the farm, dry it and package it. We’ve sold it at our farm fairs. “Because we’ve told them about the farm needing to pay rent and electricity bills, and the cost of feeding animals, they wanted to contribute towards that, so 50% of their profits goes to the farm and the other 50% goes towards trips and activities for their group.” The farm also provides training to give its youth club members an advantage once they start applying for jobs.

“We’re helping them all achieve their food hygiene qualification, and we arrange for people to come in to talk to them and provide some training, such as baristas,” Gemma says. “If they already have this experience by the time they turn 18, that will really help them.” Up to three young people aged 15-20 years old visit from Southwark Youth Justice Service every weekend. “Rather than being branded up with high vis we work closely with the Service to make a change in these young peoples’ lives,” Gemma explains. “Although everyone has ownership and agency over their life, these young peoples’ lives mean that it’s very challenging for them not to go a certain way.

“If you want to make a change you need to give someone a way of changing – we provide them with new skills and empower them.”

“They’ve already been told a lot of the time that they’re not worth anything and they won’t achieve anything in life. If you want to make a change you need to give someone a way of changing – we provide them with new skills and empower them. We’ve had a couple who have stayed on and become volunteers.” The farm also works with a lot of people with learning difficulties. “We’ve been running training projects for adults with learning disabilities for around 20 years,” Gemma says. “They get involved in all aspects of the farm. It’s all about getting people outside and giving them a purpose and a chance to contribute.”

City farms as community hubs

A dedicated team of 100 volunteers work alongside 13 members of staff to keep the 2.2acre site running. “A lot of our volunteers are struggling with their mental or physical health,” shares Gemma. “We’ve had people who worked in high powered jobs before suffering a breakdown – they’re struggling and trying to rebuild. Other people may have a physical injury and they use the farming for exercise. Some people are struggling with isolation or bereavement. We’ve also had young people who just aren’t engaging with school.

“Coming to the farm and having that purpose and being part of a team makes a real difference; everybody wants to feel needed, and we really need people.”

“Coming to the farm and having that purpose and being part of a team makes a real difference; everybody wants to feel needed, and we really need people.” Covid had a real impact on the farm, both in terms of the volunteers who reached out and demand for team building experiences.

“We had a brain surgeon who volunteered around the time we came out of Covid,” Gemma recalls. “He said it had been an intense time and he wanted to volunteer to help his mental health. He just wanted to come in once a month, sweep up after the sheep and be part of something else. “When people come here, they can strip away their job title and everything is neutral. All these people who wouldn’t normally cross paths come together to form a farm family. “On team building days, people are sometimes meeting each other face to face for the first time because they usually see each other on Zoom. More people are working from home now, so our team building days have seen an increase in demand because they’re a great way for people to come and connect.”

“Employees from the Carter Jonas marketing department have volunteered their time to help at the farm and used their expertise to help Surrey docks with their marketing. What began as financial backing orchestrated by the Worshipful Company of Farmers quickly developed into more hands-on support after Hayley Clifton, Head of Rural Marketing at Carter Jonas, toured the farm. “I toured the farm and thought it was amazing – I decided that I, personally, wanted to become more involved,” Hayley says. “I felt that I could help them get more corporate volunteering and financial support from others if we could somehow recreate the feeling I had when I was on the tour.”

“I toured the farm and thought it was amazing – I decided that I, personally, wanted to become more involved”

Together with her colleagues, Laura and Amanda, Hayley created a video tour of the farm to showcase the different people the charity supports. As a company, Carter Jonas encourages all its employees to volunteer for two days a year; Laura and Hayley use these two days to provide Surrey Docks Farm with marketing support. “We also organise two corporate volunteering days a year where we’ll send 10 or so people from offices around the country to help with whatever they need,” Hayley explains.

Gemma adds that Carter Jonas support has been hugely helpful as Hayley and Laura really understood what the charity hopes to achieve. “They took the time to talk to our participants and hear from them first-hand what they’re doing,” she adds. “That was brilliant because it meant they could really help us with the marketing side of things.” Hayley was convinced that she wanted to help the charity as much as possible after having conversations with volunteers and hearing first-hand the difference it has made to their lives. “It was amazing seeing how much joy it brings them,” she explains. “They love it and they’re really proud of it. The adults with learning difficulties feel that they’re doing something really useful and worthwhile.”

"It was amazing seeing how much joy it brings them, they love it and they're really proud of it."

She spoke to adults who volunteered for many different reasons and was moved by the positive impact it has had on their lives. “I spoke to one woman who had to leave the army after being injured,” Hayley shares. “Not only could she not do her job anymore, but her whole lifestyle had changed. She found new meaning in her life by going and looking after lambs at the farm.

“Every single person I spoke to had a story like that, and they’re all condensed into this really tiny space, just over the river from Canary Wharf. It feels so special; it’s such an incredible place.” surreydocksfarm.org.uk

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Members of Carter Jonas at a corporate volunteer day. The team helped to build a new raised bed to join Surrey Docks City Farm's community growing spaces.