It demonstrates a variety of wildlife habitats, organic farming and sustainability over to members of the public, and introduces schoolchildren to various aspects of farming and the environment. The Farm also provides educational services to disadvantaged young people and adults with learning difficulties. It provides locally grown food and allotments for the community. There is a social enterprisecoffee shop where profits go to the community, and which provides a meeting place for local communities and work experience and training. The animals farmed include Dexter cattle, sheep, alpacas, goats, several breeds of pig, chickens and ducks. There are also guinea pigs and rabbits in the small animals area and two donkeys. Honey is produced from beehives kept on the farm and the moors. A Recycled Bike Project takes cycles from Meanwood Household Waste Site and donated by West Yorkshire Police, which are rebuilt by young people, teaching them mechanical skills. The final bicycles are then donates to trainees or unemployed people to aid commuting. Ten have been sent to Romania for Medicare Nurses to visit their patients.
History
It was established in 1980 as a charity run by volunteers with £5,000 from Leeds City Council, initially with one caravan as the only accommodation, and was formally opened in July 1981 by the Lord Mayor of Leeds. By 1986 there was a hut, and in 1999, having raised half a million pounds, a timber frame building called the Epicentre was opened as a resource for the farm and the local community, with offices, education and meeting rooms. Further fundraising produced donations of a similar sum to enable expansion, with new animal buildings in 2004.
Epicentre
The main building provides administrative rooms for the farm, and meeting rooms for local groups. It is an example of Walter Segal system of self-build construction which is environmentally-friendly in its use of materials and energy. It is a low-energy building using the principle of solar gain; it has a turf roof and uses a reed bed drainage treatment system. It was officially opened by the Environment Secretary, Michael Meacher and was also visited by Prince Charles in 2002.
