A growth industry

In one pen there’s a couple of goats, in another there’s two Shetland ponies and in the middle of the site there’s a polytunnel where the latest crop of fruit and vegetables is taking root. However, that’s where the similarities to a traditional small-holding ends.

Overlooking the centre of Bradford, those who clean out the animals, who arrange the feed and who will be responsible for this year’s harvest don’t have the usual agricultural credentials. In fact before they turned up at the farm gates, many of them had never ventured more than few miles out of the city and there knowledge of the natural cycle of things was well, limited. It took three weeks for one of the farm’s newest recruits to accept that eggs came from chickens, a revelation which according to Paul Craven, the farm’s managing director, “simply blew his mind”. For others, just swapping their trainers for an unflattering pair of Wellington boots takes a monumental leap of faith.

“When you hand them a brush on day one and ask them to sweep out the goat pen, they tend to turn their nose up, but give them a couple of weeks and they soon settle into the routine,” says Paul, who over the last couple of years has turned what was a scrap of wasteland into a small but perfectly formed working farm. “To be honest that’s what most of them had never had. They have often drifted through school and left with few or in some cases no qualifications, but that doesn’t mean they have nothing to offer.

“Spending a bit of time up here, in the outdoors is good for them. Feeding and grooming the animals gives them an immediate sense of responsibility and while it doesn’t pan out for everyone, the vast majority will be here at 8.30am, Monday to Friday wanting to work. And this is real work, they learn how to shear sheep, they are taught how to clip the toenails of some of the smaller animals and how to administer injections. A lot of the kids who come to us feel they have been written off, but here they find that they are opportunities out there as long as they are willing to work for them.”

Prism City Farm and other initiatives like it may also prove to be a vital link in plugging a widening gap in the rural jobs market. The arduous work, the long hours and for many the poor financial return, have all contributed to steady decline in the number of young people willing or able to work in the the British farming industry. Where once businesses would pass seamlessly from one generation to another, now many farming families are struggling with succession and finding skilled individuals to take their place is just as difficult.

It is estimated that 60,000 new entrants are needed in the next decade to ensure the farming industry can continue and many are now wondering whether teenagers living in inner cities, where youth unemployment has spiked in recent years, may provide at least part of the answer.

In Bradford, 6,040 young people aged between 18 and 24-years-old claim Jobseeker’s Allowance, a figure significantly higher than the national average and the city is also home to 1,000 teenagers who are not in employment, education or training.

Last year Prism won a cash injection from the Prince’s Countryside Fund, which has allowed it to take on Paul Kilgallon, a full-time volunteer coordinator. His efforts has meant the number of those benefitting from work experience down on the farm has increased to 60 and a number of students have already secured places at agricultural colleges like Askham Bryan and Craven College.

Ashley Nelson is hoping he will follow a similar route. He’s been coming to the farm for a while now and later this year is planning to take up a place on an animal management course. For the 17-year-old, who admits he was happy to just blend into the background at Buttershaw High School, his move into further education will represent something of a landmark.

While he’s still one of the more quietly- spoken students, through working with the animals he has found a voice.

“I didn’t really do so well at school. I always thought I’d get the questions wrong, so I withdrew into myself,” he says. “Even when I was really little I always always said that I wanted to work with animals but when you grow up somewhere like Bradford there’s not much opportunity.

“When I heard about this place, it sounded perfect. It’s not just about the animals, I’ve got involved in harvesting and I’ve helped to organise a few charity events. I really like being close to nature and being here has opened me up to so many other things. I’ve knuckled down and I feel useful. Being here has helped me be confident again.”

While not all the students will end up in farming, opening up confirmed city dwellers to the possibilities of working in the countryside could prove key in stemming the decline.

“It’s not as easy as saying, ‘well, there’s a group of unemployed teenagers, let’s get them work on farms’, but there is potentially a large untapped resource of talent,” says Victoria Elms of the Prince’s Countryside Fund, which provides grants of up to £50,000 to projects that are tackling a number of key issues from supporting rural enterprise to educating people about the value of the countryside.

“We have to make people aware of the kind of jobs that are out there, but we also have to be aware of the obstacles which are in their way. Transport is often a problem, but we can and have helped in the past with funding driving lessons, and we are really open to any projects which help support the countryside, the industries which it relies on and the communities which live there.”

The PCF was set up in July 2010 and has so far given out more than £2.1m in grants to more than 60 projects across the country.

While Prism City Farm is one of the latest to benefit, the organisation has also been involved in the Yorkshire Moors Agricultural Apprenticeship Scheme which works with upland farmers to find the next generation of workers.

An estimated 6,000 people left the farming industry last year and the picture is particularly stark when it comes to the management of the country’s uplands. Of the 13,000 remaining holdings in England, 20 per cent of farmers are expected to retire or stop farming in the next five years.

While some of those who have signed up to the scheme come from a traditional farming background, it has also successfully managed to recruit those who might otherwise be forced to look elsewhere for work. “The best thing about the apprenticeships is the wide range of experience we can offer,” says Nicola Welford, programme director at YMAAS. “All the farmers that we work with are committed to these apprentices and they put a lot of time and effort into to training them. Farming on these uplands has shaped the landscape for centuries, but for the area’s future to be secure, schemes like this are vital.”

The apprenticeships, run in conjunction with both Askham Bryan and Newton Rigg College, the latter became home to the National Centre for the Uplands in February which it is hoped will help to further promote the need for agricultural apprenticeships.

Back at Prism City Farm, the students are getting ready to pack up for the day, but some clearly don’t want to leave and Paul is looking at the possibility of being open to the youngsters seven days a week.

“I know some people find it hard to believe those surveys which say half of all children don’t know that butter comes from cows, but it’s true,” he says. “Not all of the youngsters who spend some time at the farm will end up working in agriculture, but when they leave here they will at least have an awareness about the relationship both between food and farming and between the city and the countryside.”

If rural businesses are to recruit 
from far and wide, it’s that knowledge which could well 
prove key.