WHITMUIR. growing the future

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1 WHITMUIR growing the future PROSPECTUS MARCH 2013

2 WHITMUIR TODAY 130 acres of working organic farm and a living learning space wildlife corridor The hill (1100ft) Fantastic views to Edinburgh and Fife top pond Wee woodland Beech woodland Larch woodland steep climb Braeface 1 Braeface 2 waterfall old quarry copse Quarry field Parkend middle pond dipping platform Lamb s field Beech Avenue pig and cattle sheds viewing platform Tipi lower pond car park Home field Noble House field Edinburgh 16 miles Apothecary s Garden new orchard A701 (main road) West Linton 4 miles Who lives here Pigs Cows Hens Sheep Turkeys Current owners Pete and Heather with Lily the dog What we grow here Grass and trees Salad Soft fruit Potatoes Vegetables Hope and encouragement Here already Whitmuir farm shop and butchery Whitmuir cafe Breadshare bakery Dancing Light Art Gallery Black and Green Biochar Project Community Polytunnel Plots

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Whitmuir is planning to become Scotland s first community owned farm and a national resource for sustainable food and farming. As well as producing great organic food every day, Whitmuir will develop discovery trails, exhibits, educational opportunities and citizen science projects. Whitmuir will be the place where you explore and begin to build a more sustainable food system. You will be able to: Imagine the future of food and farming in our one planet polytunnel Measure the farm s carbon footprint on our zero carbon, zero waste trail Enjoy growing, foraging and cooking organic food in our community garden and field kitchen Discover what birds, bugs and beasties do all day on our nature trails Climb our hill on the history trail and see for years and years Learn to be a farmer by coming on our courses everything from rearing hens to growing herbs, from laying hedges to keeping pigs Whitmuir Community Farm Limited (a community benefit society) is launching a share issue to raise 600,000 to purchase the 130 acre organic farm. We will create a living learning space which is experientially rich, intellectually engaging, and accessible to all. Anyone aged 5 and over can purchase a share. The minimum investment is one 50 share and the maximum is 20,000. Each shareholder has one vote. Donations and loans are also welcome. If you would like to help grow the future, please join us at 1

4 WHAT WE WANT TO DO HERE Grow the future Over the last six years, the current owners have transformed a small private farm into a public space. Many of the 70,000 annual visitors to the shop, gallery and restaurant already walk round the farm. Whitmuir also organises some 50 tours and talks each year for schools, universities, community groups and farmers. Becoming a community farm will assure the next stage of the farm s development in a way that cannot be achieved through the current ownership model. To undertake all this new work, we will have to secure a mix of grant support, sponsorship and fee income. Unleashing the potential of Whitmuir as a living learning space will take imagination, endeavour, creativity and investment. We want to work with scientists, artists, teachers, historians, designers, curators and many different partner agencies. We hope to have both artists and scientists in residence. 2

5 Our current plans include THE HISTORY TRAIL THE NATURE TRAIL We will improve interpretation of biodiversity both above and below the ground, which has increased significantly after a decade of organic farming. The trail will include bird watching hideouts, a dipping pond, wild flower walks, a fungus forest and a human scale worm hole. WHITMUIR COMMUNITY FARM We aim to use the landscape of the farm to bring to life the history of food and farming in this area, from Neolithic to modern times. By investigating who owned the land and who farmed the land, and by discovering both what they were growing and what they were eating, we can piece together the complex story of land ownership and use. THE ONE PLANET POLYTUNNEL This half-acre space will represent the current cropland available per person on the planet. The physical space will act as a learning environment to explore global and local land use options and their future impact, for example, GM, wheat use for animal feed or biofuel, and current consumption footprints. THE ZERO CARBON TRAIL Travelling round the farm you can see where energy is used and greenhouse gases are produced as well as where energy is produced and carbon is locked up. You can learn about the wind turbine, the solar panels, the micro-hydro turbine, the ground source heat pump, the air source heat pump and all the energy saving and recycling activities undertaken on the farm. You can work out the farm s carbon balance; accounting for the grassland and the woodland, the carbon locked up by the biochar project, the methane produced by the cattle and sheep and the energy used by the farm machinery. A LIVING LEARNING SPACE THE COMMUNITY FOOD TRAIL Over one acre of the farm is already in use as orchard, community garden and polytunnels for community growing. Our community of gardeners will demonstrate different approaches to growing, composting, biochar and green manures. Our green classroom and field kitchen will link the fork in the field to the fork on your plate. SHORT COURSES AND TALKS Whitmuir will continue to host farm walks and short courses, provide student placements, and offer training opportunities for new organic farmers and growers. School visits will increase, with more support for teachers and closer links to the curriculum for excellence. Farm Fridays will run over the school holidays and opportunities to plant, dig, weed and build will be endless. We will also continue to run a programme of local and global talks on land use, food justice and farming methods. 3

6 Run the farm Whitmuir comprises 64 acres arable, 34 acres of pasture and 32 acres of woodland, shelterbelt and hedges. It will continue to be a working organic farm, rearing and growing around 120,000 worth of organic food each year. As well as rearing pigs, cows, hens, sheep and turkeys, the farm grows salad leaves, vegetables, fruit and lots of hope and encouragement. Qualified farm staff will continue to be employed to undertake the day to day farming. As now, most of the food will be sold into the farm butchery, shop and restaurant for both retail and wholesale. The shop and restaurant will continue to be owned and run by Whitmuir Organics Limited, a company set up and managed by current farm owners, Pete Ritchie and Heather Anderson. Pete and Heather will continue to own and live in the farmhouse. Whitmuir Community Farm will have first refusal in the event that Pete and Heather wish to sell Whitmuir Organics Limited and/or the farmhouse. 4

7 HOW A COMMUNITY BENEFIT SOCIETY WORKS Whitmuir Community Farm Limited was registered on 28 December 2012 under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 (2764 RS). The Society has limited liability. Once we have purchased the land, the Society s purpose is to maintain and develop Whitmuir as a working, organic farm that becomes increasingly productive, beautiful, diverse and sustainable for the benefit of the community. As well as producing food, the farm will aim to engage, inform and educate the public about sustainable food and farming and become a focus for small-scale innovation and research. This is why we are developing the farm as a living, learning space. In addition to trading for the benefit of the community (not private benefit), the Society is committed to operating Whitmuir Farm in accordance with organic principles and standards. Membership of Whitmuir Community Farm Membership of Whitmuir Community Farm is open to any person (individual, corporate body or nominee of an unincorporated body) who completes an application form for acceptance by the Management Committee. To join you must: Be over 5 years of age Support the purpose of Whitmuir Community Farm Buy a minimum of one 50 share A Register of Members will be maintained. Membership gives you access to information, a vote in how the community farm is run and the opportunity to be elected onto the Management Committee from the age of 16. Our management structure The Management Committee is elected by the membership and is collectively responsible for everything done in the name of the Society. It can employ staff, delegate day-to-day management to employees, make use of the service of volunteers and deal with governance and development of the community farm. As well as ensuring that sufficient income is generated from farming and for educational activity, the Society can receive donations and loans. At present, we have a Steering Group of 17 members, formed following public meetings held on 22 October 2012 and 12 February For full details of our rules and membership, please refer to 5

8 The Steering Group has been tasked with developing the prospectus and business plan for the new venture, marketing and managing the share issue, negotiating and completing the purchase. Skills represented on the Steering Group include marketing, business development, fundraising, teaching, community and co-operative development, ecology, farming, forestry, butchery and entrepreneurship. Planning permission for a wind turbine is pending and development may be financed jointly between the community farm and Whitmuir Organics Limited. Whitmuir Community Farm will also work closely with the Whitmuir Project, a Scottish Charity based on the farm carrying out a range of environmental education activities. The Whitmuir Project currently runs the Green and Black biochar project, which is funded by the Climate Challenge Fund. ABOUT THE SHARE ISSUE You are invited to become a shareholding member of Whitmuir Community Farm Limited, a Community Benefit Society aiming to purchase and develop Whitmuir Farm into a national resource on sustainable food and farming. The launch date for the share issue is 21 March About the Shares Each share is 50. The minimum investment is one share The maximum investment is 20,000 Each member has one vote, irrespective of the number of shares held Application for shares must be made to the Management Committee and paid in full on application No interest will be paid on shares in the first 3 years. Interest may be paid subsequently at the discretion of the Management Committee The value of shares of a deceased shareholder may be transferred to another person in accordance with his/her wishes Shares can be withdrawn after a minimum period of 3 years with one month s notice, but only at the discretion of the Management Committee Shares cannot be withdrawn prior to your 16th birthday The Management Committee, when considering repayment of shares, must have regard to the long-term interest of the Society and the need to maintain prudent reserves The value of shares cannot increase beyond their nominal value of 50. However their value may fall if the Society makes a loss, and shares will only be repaid at the value shown in the balance sheet at the time of repayment Shares cannot be sold Any profits or surpluses shall not be distributed directly or indirectly to members, but must be applied to maintain prudent reserves and / or used to achieve the Society s aims 6

9 Value of share issue The Society is aiming to raise 600,000 in order to purchase and develop the 130 acre organic farm, comprising 64 acres of arable land, 34 acres of pasture and 32 acres of woodland, shelterbelt and hedges. Approximately 400,000 of this sum relates to the actual land itself, based on a final land valuation to be agreed between the current owners and the Management Committee. The balance is to cover the costs of purchasing the farming business, livestock and farm assets, plus sufficient to cover initial start up and revenue costs, working capital needs and a small amount of investment in new assets. All funds raised from the share issue will be held within a bank account until the total required to secure the purchase has been reached. If we fail to reach this total and the purchase does not proceed, shares will be refunded less reasonable expenses incurred in launching the share issue. If applications received are in excess of the target amount, the Management Committee reserves the right to use its discretion in the allocation of shares. The provisional deadline for the share issue is the end of June If sufficient funds are raised by the end of June, the aim is to complete the transfer of the farm by September The Management Committee may however extend the period of the share issue at its discretion. The security of your shares A Community Benefit Society is registered with, but not authorised by, the Financial Services Authority. Therefore the money you pay for your shares is not safeguarded by any depositor protection or dispute resolution scheme. The share offer is exempt from the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 or subsidiary regulations, which means you have no right of complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. The Management Committee will work to ensure that any losses on the farming business in a bad year will be relatively small and will be balanced by profits in better years. The development of the site will also be dependent on securing funding. However, any investment in shares carries risks and you may lose part or the whole value of your investment. The majority of your investment is secured against the value of the land itself, which is likely to increase over time. Please consider your investment carefully in the context of this prospectus and related information and, if needed, seek independent advice. 7

10 WHAT YOU NEED TO DO NOW Help us grow the future Buy shares for yourself, for children under the age of 16, or as a gift Tell your friends and colleagues about us Come visit the farm Write an article about us Share us on Facebook and Twitter Invite us to make a presentation to a group or organisation you know Your can make a donation or purchase a share in the following ways In person at the farm shop and restaurant Online at By to join@whitmuircommunityfarm.org Or post a cheque with your contact details to Whitmuir Community Farm, Lamancha, West Linton, EH46 7BB By telephone If you would like a copy of our business plan, please info@whitmuircommunityfarm.org to request a copy. 8

11 The information contained in this Prospectus has been prepared under the supervision of the directors of Whitmuir Community Farm Limited - who take responsibility for its contents. To the best of their knowledge, all information is accurate.

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