Deen City Farm desperately needs your help.

We are completely amazed and humbled by the speed at which you, the public have helped us reach our initial target! Thank you all so very much for your generous donations.

The more money we are able to raise, the longer we can stay open whilst we work to secure the financial future of the farm. Please do keep donating and sharing our appeal if at all possible.

Sadly, 2024 has been a catastrophic year for Deen City Farm. A major power system failure combined with massively increased costs means we are now struggling to keep afloat and, without your help, we will have to close.

At the beginning of the year, we asked for donations to help us fund the electrical repairs onsite and your amazing donations helped us raise £30,000. However, it has not been enough to cover the rising costs of this problem, and we are once again needing to ask for your help.

Staff and volunteers have worked relentlessly to keep the farm open and maximise our income, but the electrical fault stopped us from running at full capacity for almost 8 months and we incurred substantial extra costs to simply stay open.

Closing is the last resort and we will do whatever it takes to keep our farm gates open for you, but it is now a real possibility.

Closing will mean the local community will lose a vital community asset and the important work we do supporting children and disadvantaged people will come to an end.

Without your help we cannot continue to:

* Welcome over 130,000 visitors annually, mainly families where they can meet and feed the animals, engaging in therapeutic, fun and educational experiences, use the playground or enjoy the garden, free of charge.

* Offer work experience for over 244 students a year, 64% of which have identified as disabled.

* Support volunteer opportunities for over 190 people a year, of those 43% in 2023/24 were unemployed, and 56% identified as individuals with additional needs.

* Host students who have lost their desire or ability to thrive in mainstream education.

* Run mental and physical health and well-being programmes within the local community

* Offer workshops and guided experiences for school children: 1,475 children from 43 different schools benefited in 2023.

Please donate today and share this message to ensure we can remain open for the community.

We are talking openly about our financial position to the people who matter to us the most; the people that use us, value us, support us. We do not want to see another inner-city, free to access community, family and educational space, have to close.

Sadly, we know our situation is not unique. Many charities in the current, challenging, external environment are struggling, but we hope you can really dig deep, see the value Deen City Farm brings to South London, and donate today.

With your support, we can remain open, whilst we review how the Farm can move forwards in a sustainable way. We will do this transparently and in consultation with our community, stakeholders and supporters.

Please donate today and share this message to ensure we can remain open for the community.

THANK YOU!

Dear Friends and Supporters,

I would like to start by saying a huge thank you for all of your help and support regarding the power faults that we have had to cope with since the start of the year, hopefully this will be my last letter about the subject. The good news is that the faulty cables have now been replaced. If you have visited the farm recently, you will see there is a new fence running down the service road, with the new electrical cable running through it in a secure conduit.  

The farms team have done a fantastic job in keeping the farm running, despite only having 2/3^rd of the power we need, and I am very appreciative of their hard work and dedication.

This was a major electrical fault, not of our making, and it has cost us more than sixty thousand pounds to repair the cables and pay for additional services needed to keep the farm open. In the process of fixing the fault, and getting the farm back to full working order, we have had to use most of our (already limited) cash reserves . We have also had to put several of our other redevelopment projects on hold.

We have already had some really generous donations from our fundraising campaign earlier in the year but we now know the final costs of the repair and still need to find at least another forty thousand pounds to recoup the costs we’ve incurred. We are working with Merton Council and other stakeholders to see what support they could offer, but we need more help to stay open.

There are many ways you can support the farm. If you are able to donate anything at all that would be a tremendous help.  To find out more about other ways you can help visit our support us page on our website: Support Us | Deen City Farm.

We really appreciate any help you can give us at this difficult time, and we look forward to seeing you at the farm soon, especially at Farm Fest on Saturday 31st August. This year’s event will be bigger and better with live music from some fantastic local bands, fair games and activities, crafts, soft play, dancing and a bar for the adults!
 
Many Thanks for taking time to read this letter and for your support of Deen City Farm.
 
Best Regards

Matthew Linden
 

Chair of Deen City Farm & Riding School

Charity Number: 1008028

Dear Friends and Supporters

Urgent Appeal: Help Us Restore Power and Keep Our Farm Running

Earlier in the year I wrote to inform you of the major problems we have had with our power supply and many of you kindly sent us a donation towards fixing this. I’m reaching out once again to share an update on the ongoing challenges we’re facing and to ask for your continued support.

Over the last few months, we have spent some time ensuring we understand the problem and looking at the options for a solution. It is now confirmed that to fix this problem we will have to replace about 150 meters of electric cabling which was installed over 30 years ago, that runs from the other side of the river Wandle to the farm offices. Replacing this cable, along with digging a trench to lay it and updating control boards, comes with a hefty price of approximately £50,000.

Thanks to your generosity, we have managed to raise £23,000 towards this project but we still have a considerable shortfall. While we're exploring avenues for additional support including the power supplier, we anticipate that the bulk of the expense will fall on us.

It's challenging to face such an unexpected hefty financial bill, especially amidst other pressing needs like rising operational costs and necessary security upgrades for our farm perimeter. Your continued support is crucial in helping us overcome these challenges and ensure the smooth functioning of our farm.

If you can help us by donating, it will allow us to get the farm back to its full capacity by mending our electrical problems, as well as letting us complete our other urgent projects and ensure that we continue to welcome our visitors back to the farm every day.

If you're able to contribute, no matter the amount, your donation would make a meaningful difference. You can donate through our JustGiving page.

Unfortunately, the new year didn’t start very well for Deen City Farm & Riding School as just after Christmas we had a major fault with our electrical supply system. We have tracked the fault down to one of the high-capacity electrical cables that supplies electricity to the farm.  

The good news is we have managed to make temporary repairs, so we are now open again, but we have to replace the faulty cable. This will include running a new high-capacity cable from the UK Power demarcation point to the farm office which includes digging a long trench and routing the cable across the bridge. These are very significant repairs to make, and we are sadly looking at a potential bill of several tens of thousand pounds.  

Winter is an expensive time for us especially as our big animals, the cows, sheep and goats have to spend more time inside and we have to give them a lot more expensive feed, so this is not the best time to have another large bill to pay.  

To help us keep going and to ensure we get all our services back up and running we need your help. Please come and visit us, we are open but can’t run a full service in our café and we are having to use temporary toilets.  

We appreciate this isn’t an easy time of the year for anyone. Whatever you can do to help us is very much appreciated. The fantastic team at Deen City Farm has already worked very hard to get us open and their determination to keep the farm running in the face of one of the most serious issues to affect the farm is fantastic. However without your help we will be struggling, so if you can please help us by making a donation by visiting our just giving page https://www.justgiving.com/dcfarm. 

Many thanks for your time and help it is much appreciated.  

Matt Linden  

Chair of Deen City Farm & Riding School

Charity Number: 1008028