The Story So Far

Let us tell you the continuing story of Bentley Urban Farm (BUF), looking back at where we came from, telling the story so far… and hinting at the new directions we will be taking…

Some time ago Warren Draper and John Briggs created an initiative called Doncaster Urban Growers (DUG), a guerilla gardening project which planted various edible and other useful plants on wasteland and/or neglected sites around the borough. We yearned for more permanent spaces where we could build something bigger and a little more permanent. We knew about the disused council-run horticultural training centre in Bentley and the land around it. During this time Warren also invented and co-created the Doncopolitan magazine with his long-term art collaborator, Rachel Horne. Jo Miller, the leader of the council at the time, subscribed to Doncopolitan and we were able to convince her of our vision for the site in Bentley. We had the idea of setting up (what may well be the world’s first…) ‘upcycled market garden’, where we would use reclaimed (waste) materials to repair and maintain the training centre so we could teach families, individuals, schools and groups to grow and enjoy healthy food in an affordable and ecological way.

It started as an anti-food poverty campaign. Like most former mining towns, Bentley is something of a food desert where, although 94% of residents are within a fine minute walk of a fast-food outlet, there is no independent greengrocer to service a region of over 21,000 people. It is a town where it is, quite literally, easier to buy kebabs than kale.

We used our ‘Seed & Save’ project to teach people how to make raised beds and grow their own fresh food to help them save money. We even bought produce back from growers for our veg boxes. But it soon became evident that it wasn’t just poorer families who struggled with food health. We found that there were families where the parent/s or carer/s worked long hours so that the children, so-called latch-key kids, were warming up their own meals from the freezer. They were getting the same nutritionally poor meals even though they were in more affluent families. It became obvious that it was our relationship with food, not just access to good food, which was the problem. So we began to create programmes to encourage people to grow, cook and eat together and see food in a more positive light and to recognise it as an important part of who we are (we’re literally made from it, so he better the food the better the person), not just fuel which needs to be consumed.

This is the beauty of Bentley Urban Farm, it has always adapted to the needs of our community as we come to better understand those needs. We have always had an open door policy where we cater for the people who are attracted to the project, building a relationship based on the specific individual, rather than create a one-size-fits-all programme which tries to force square pegs through round holes. We’re not trying to tell anyone how they should live, we’re simply showing processes which have benefited our own physical, mental and economic well-being and saying that this might work for you too. Likewise we’re open to people using the site to show what has worked for them. This has created incredible fluidity which has led to us growing from a food and ecology project, to a well-being centre which caters for a diverse range of interests; including art, music, therapy, growing, rewilding, technology, physical fitness and even archery. And we’re open to new ideas. We embrace change and thrive on new experiences.

For the last two years BUF co-founder, Warren Draper, has been involved with the development of A Commune in the North (ACitN), an ambitious project which is seeking to build an ecological, egalitarian, community-active, wealth-share commune for up to 200 people somewhere in the north of England. After a weekend of workshops at the farm, it was decided that BUF was the perfect testing ground for the some of the practices, businesses and ideas necessary to build the commune. The core members of ACitN have moved to Bentley and have already had an impact locally. As well as becomming involved with the daily running of BUF and a range of other community activities, members of ACitN have helped to turn Twisted, the local indoor skatepark at Marshgate, into Doncaster Skate Co-op, a workers cooperative made up of skateboarders. Emma, who also helps to run BUF, is currently turning Marshgate into another urban farm!

In 2022 we hosted the first Mother Fhungus Festival, which has also completely changed the look and feel of the site. The event keeps growing in poularity, and the infrastucture built for the event (stage, dancefloor, artist studios, etc) has allowed us to offer spaces for other creatives to use in between festivals. Furthering the aims of Doncopolitan as well as making the farm an even more fun place to hang around.

Warren has spent almost every day of the last seven years on site, but he is keen to point out that he is as much a curator of the site as he is a manager or CEO (both of these titles make him flinch). Whenever anyone says: “You’ve done an amazing job”, he is quick to remind people that the site is the creation of dozens of people (perhaps hundreds) over several years. There have been far too many people and groups to name every one, but we’ll try a quick shout-out to the people, groups, supporters, customers and funders who have made a significant difference over the years (apologies if we’ve accidentally missed you off, give us a heads up and we’ll add you):

Dave, Sapphire, Emma, Suzie, Kev, Cath, Stu, Rachel, Sam, Naomi, Olivier, another Emma, another Rachel, Mikee, Dom, Natalia, Simon, Darren, Anita, Sophie, Mark, Ann, John, Glen, Manna CIC, Ian, Alyson, Grace, Dorian, Naeela, Pauline, Audrey, Anna, Scarlet, another Dave, Rachel, another John, Sacha, Sol, Sue, another Kev and the teachers & kids from the Primary Learning Centre, Darwin, Robert, Eden Project Communities, twins Daven and Trinity, yet another Dave, Pete, Paula, Sarah & Rita, John number three, another Sarah… but this time with Russ, Big Picture, everyone from the Ridge Employability College, our wonderful home-edder community, Jane, Mayor Ros Jones, Mike, Becky, Tara, two Tims, Hollie, Doncopolitan, Journey Education, Michelle, Charlotte, Jo, Cambeth Community Project, Workers Educational Association, Suma, Ruzina and the 71st Hunafa Scout Group, Sue, another two Marks, Greenheart Community, the Urban Worm, the Skintones, Jennefer, Jenny, Jen, Damian, Paul, Charlie, Bill, Dan, the Landworkers’ Alliance, Vegan Organic Network, Graham, Karen, the New Fringe and funding/sponsorship/donations from Volcom, DMBC, NDDT, Adorned, Mac Therapists, Doncaster Creates, Bright Ideas, Locality, Eco & Artisan, Better Way, Spacehive and the National Lottery Community Fund.  And a huge thank you for our award from Permaculture Magazine and the Abundant Earth Foundation.

A thank you in advance for those of you we have yet to meet. If you haven’t been enticed to visit Bentley Urban Farm already, here are a few of the new projects we’ll be running alongside our usual growing, environment, therapy, art and music sessions…

Since Doncaster recieved city status we have been working on our Living City project. Inspired by our friend Greenjacker’s Doncaster, the Living City Doncopolitan article, we have been networking with national groups such as the Landworker’s Alliance and Seed Sovereignty UK to put forward a vision of how we can all work together to make the City of Doncaster a beacon of sustainability and resileince and show the world what a city can be in the 21st Century. To these ends we will be hosting Greenjacker workshops at the farm and a range of outreach events, projects and interventions throughout our region.

Watch this space for more details.

If you’d like to volunteer, pop down to the farm between 10am and 5pm on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday, or between 12pm and 5pm on a Saturday or Sunday. We’re down the lane between Bentley High Street School and St Peter’s Church. If you have any trouble finding us or would like further information, call or text Warren on 07846 439982.