Growing Northern participation

WE are recruiting HOSTS for Three Northern Farm Learning Hubs

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Following our recent announcement of funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, we have started the recruitment process to find hosts for three new Northern Farm Learning Hubs. The deadline for expressions of interest has now passed and over the summer we will be interviewing and visiting the short-listed hosts. We look forward to revealing the hubs this September.

What is a Farm Learning hub?

Our vision is to establish three farms across the North that are focal points for proactive, practical action to catalyse the changes towards a more regenerative, agroecological and resilient food and farming system. These hubs won’t just explore best practices in regeneration, landscape restoration, agroecology and food production; they will serve as active centres for education, peer-to-peer training, and market building for agricultural products.

On-farm events will bring together a range of farmers and food system workers from across the North, and the amplification of stories and case studies are an integral part of this work. 

By the end of September 2029, these three sites will be known across the region as places of inspiration—hubs where practical solutions are piloted and from which wider regional action grows.

Working towards a shared vision

The Learning Hub Farmers will work alongside the NFF collaboration to co-develop pilot activities that align with our six strategic goals:

Who we are looking for

We are recruiting farmers who want to progress practical action relating to at least one of the strategy themes – whether they are at the start of the agroecological journey or well-advanced.

Ideally, they will be:

Embedded in regional networks, keen to instigate and support change and comfortable acting as an inspiration to the wider sector.

Collaborative: Open to co-designing projects and running events that bring the community onto the farm.

Innovation-led: Motivated to pilot practical approaches linked to any of the strategic goals.

Host-ready: The farms should have suitable space for hosting events with reasonable access, and commitment to ensuring the necessary health and safety infrastructure such as risk assessments and public liability insurance is in place.

what is on offer?

This is a partnership designed to support the host’s ambitions for their farm  while advancing the regional strategy.

We are offering:

  1. Strategic support: Help to transition the host’s farm business to agroecological practices and build local peer-to-peer and wider relevant networks.
  2. A dedicated budget: £3,000 per year to cover approximately 12 days of time for three years.
  3. Support to deliver on-farm events, support from the NFF team and contribution to financial costs. (approx. 3 per year).
  4. Capital funding: Access up to £6,000 in cost recovery to support a specific pilot project or a challenge the host wants to explore on-site.

Informal enquiries

If you have any queries about the project or application process, drop us an email: 

ellen@lessuk.org

other ways to get involved

  • JOIN OUR COLLABORATION GROUP.
    Do you represent an organisation working in the North of England on any aspects of the NFF strategy? If so, you might be interested in joining our collaboration group. Email Ellen@lessuk.org
  • SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE
    What lessons have you learned, what challenges have you overcome  – what’s your story? Could you present, or write a blog?
  • SIGN UP TO THE NEWSLETTER
    We’ll send you regular updates, share resources and opportunities to learn and connect with your peers.
  • FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM AND FACEBOOK TO STAY UP TO DATE

From Conference to Collaborative Action: The Next Chapter for Northern Food and Farming

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Since our journey began in 2020, Northern Food and Farming (NFF) has been driven by creating a fair, sustainable, and resilient food system tailored to the unique needs of the North of England. What started as the inaugural Northern Real Farming Conference has evolved into something much larger via strategic visioning and bringing together those working towards our common mission.

In 2023, we undertook a deep participatory process with over 100 stakeholders to ask a difficult question: how can we move beyond an annual event to catalyse year-round, systemic change? The answer was the birth of NFF as a permanent collaboration, grounded in a collective five-year strategy.

A Major Milestone: Securing Our Future

We are pleased to announce that Northern Food and Farming has been awarded funding by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to support its work into 2029.

What This Funding Will Enable

This investment allows us to move forward with three interdependent workstreams that will serve to boost the transition to a resilient, healthy and fair food and farming system in the North. 

  • We’re supporting action through strategic coordination.
    Over the next 3 years we will connect partners, facilitate working groups focussed on priority action areas, and ensure our collective impact is greater than the sum of its parts.
  • We’re establishing three new Farm Learning Hubs
    Collaborative environments where we pilot practical solutions, host peer-to-peer knowledge exchange events, and identify the real-world barriers to change. The hubs will be geographically and thematically diverse across the North. More details here.
  • We’ll be amplifying the stories of Northern producers
    We will share resources and lived-experience learning across the region, making the transition to resilient farming and food systems visible and influencing the wider narrative of what is possible in the North.

This funding is a massive vote of confidence in our regional movement. It provides the “core architecture” we need to transition from a shared vision into tangible, place-based action across our six priority areas—from protecting Northern seed diversity to expanding regional processing and building appropriate pathways to training.

Charlotte Bickler, Programme Coordinator and Co-Director of UK Grain Lab and Collaboration group member

get involved

As we look toward 2029 and beyond, our focus remains on breaking down the structural inequalities that have historically left Northern practitioners underserved.

NFF is a collective of organisations based in the North which includes a wide range of partners with varied interests and expertise  – this network of networks provides a strong foundation for a coordinated, efficient and urgent approach to change. Whichever area of agroecological transition you are working in, NFF provides a space to come together and collaborate with like-minded organisations and individuals to share resources and inspiration.

  • JOIN OUR COLLABORATION GROUP.
    Do you represent an organisation working in the North of England on any aspects of the NFF strategy? If so, you might be interested in joining our collaboration group. Email Ellen@lessuk.org
  • SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE
    What lessons have you learned, what challenges have you overcome  – what’s your story? Could you present, or write a blog?
  • SIGN UP TO THE NEWSLETTER
    We’ll send you regular updates, share resources and opportunities to learn and connect with your peers.
  • FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM AND FACEBOOK TO STAY UP TO DATE