We are pleased to announce that we will be supporting Farms for City Children as one of our chosen charities for 2026/2027.

Every 12 months, Greendale Group’s Charitable Giving Committee selects charities to support, under our ‘Charitable Giving’ scheme. This support can range from making donations and participating in fundraising activities, to volunteering and providing equipment.

For the next 12 months, we will be supporting children’s charity Farms for City Children, who offer immersive, nature-based farm residentials for children and young people with the aim to connect them with nature, food and farming.

During the week-long residentials, children and young people, many from undeserved communities, get to experience life working on the farms, from caring for animals and tending to the kitchen gardens, to cooking meals and beekeeping sessions.

By spending a week on the farm, they reap the physical and mental benefits of being in the countryside, while also leaving with an enhanced sense of environmental citizenship and the role they play in protecting our planet.

Since the charity started in 1976, they have welcomed more than 100,000 children and young people to one of three of their farms – Nethercott House in Devon, Lower Treginnis in Pembrokeshire and Wick Court in Gloucestershire.

In May this year, some of our Charitable Giving Committee visited the charity’s Devonshire farm to experience firsthand the incredible work that goes into reconnecting children with nature.

Our team took a tour of Nethercott House and the surrounding farm, learning about the residentials and the impact our support can make.

Tabitha Matthias, a member of our charitable giving committee, said: “ We selected FFCC because we as a committee felt the charity aligns well with our core values and farming heritage, and we’re in support of encouraging the continuation of traditional skills and land management methods for generations to come.”

Susannah Mair, Corporate Fundraising Manager at Farms for City Children said: “We’re incredibly proud to be Greendale Group’s Charity of the Year as we celebrate 50 years of Farms for City Children. With deep roots in Devon and farming at the heart of both our stories, this partnership feels particularly special.

“Through hands-on experiences with food, farming and nature, children and young people build confidence, resilience and self-worth, broaden their horizons, and begin to see themselves as environmental citizens. At a time when many young people are increasingly disconnected from the natural world, we believe it is essential that every child has the opportunity to experience a week like this — to step outside the classroom, get their hands in the soil, and connect with world around them.

“Greendale’s support will help ensure more children — particularly those facing barriers to accessing nature — can discover that the countryside is their world too.”

More about our charities