Brithdir Mawr are long established WWOOF UK hosts on 80 acres of beautiful land in west Wales. They keep goats, ducks, chickens and bees, we produce fruit and veg in poly-tunnels and gardens working to organic principles. Coppicing wood for fuel, baking bread, preserving produce and using their own materials such as wood and willow for craftwork.
As you may know the community at Brithdir Mawr celebrated its 25th birthday last year and we now have the amazing opportunity to buy the property and develop our plans for the future.
To purchase the 85 acre farm and housing cooperative we need to raise a total of £750,000 – we’re looking to buy the property in stages, through share capital and a mortgage.
We’re launching a community share offer on 6th June to raise an initial £200,000. With this money we will purchase 45 acres of woodland and pasture. Our overarching vision is to provide a space for the wider community to reconnect with nature – developing education, volunteer and support opportunities to the general public, to schools and to disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
To purchase shares investors will need to be willing to invest a minimum of £200, we are hoping to pay an interest of 2% each year on the investment. Although community shares are not tradable, capital can be withdrawn after 5 years – full terms and conditions are available on request.
To fund this, on this land we will develop a horticultural agroforestry business producing soft fruit sold via a ‘Pick Your Own’ enterprise, and apples to make juice, cider and vinegar. We will draw on the extensive expertise of both current and previous Brithdir Mawr Housing Cooperative members to make this a success.
Alongside this we will develop our events business – providing a venue for organisations and individuals to hold events and celebrations within a beautiful and natural setting. We will continue to offer monthly volunteer weeks, enabling those interested in taking the next steps towards a low impact, sustainable lifestyle to experience this first hand within a supportive, community setting. Most importantly we will develop an education package and care farm enterprise, ensuring those in the local community that would benefit from our unique,
educational and therapeutic environment, have a chance to do so.
As we find ourselves in the midst of another global crisis we feel that the necessary response, once again, is to strengthen communities: to provide food security and to provide jobs at a local level. Through the successful purchase of the Brithdir Mawr site we will be ensuring the community here continue to work towards these aims whilst also providing a place for people to come to reflect and to recuperate their health and wellbeing.
We need help to achieve these goals, with the impact of Coronavirus we know that money is tight for many people right now and that funding is getting scarce for community projects.
However, we only have until the end of this year to successfully raise the money for this first stage of purchase.
What is a Community Share Offer?
Click here to find out more about Community Share Offers.
So how can you help?
• Tell people about our share offer. If you have a large network, or just know people who may have money to invest then please spread the word:
www.brithdirmawr.co.uk
www.facebook.com/brithdirmawr1
www.Instagram.com/
• Commit to buying shares. Let us know if you would like to invest in a progressive social, and environmental community project. We will get in touch with more information.
If you’ve got this far then thanks so much for reading this and we hope you feel inspired to continue to support us in our journey towards a better future.
With love and hope,
The Brithdir Mawr Community
