I've raised £100000 to Fund the Sark Community Dairy. Donate and become one of our Heroes!
Organised by Sark Dairy Trust
Story
aHow we got mooving...
In 2017 the Sark dairy was forced to close when the farmer had to retire after 30 years, with no-one to continue the business. That's when a group of like-minded residents got together to try and save the Island's pastoral landscape and milk industry from being lost forever.
The Sark Community Dairy Charitable Trust was set up in August 2019, with the aim of providing the infrastructure of a dairy to be leased to a suitable farmer who would supply the herd and run a dairy business.
On the hunt for a farmer, only catch is they need to bring their own cows!
With land secured, we launched a public appeal for £480,000 in the spring of 2020, little knowing that we would immediately find ourselves in the middle of the Covid pandemic...
The Build...
Despite the circumstances, by August 2020 almost 75% of the public appeal had been raised, sufficient funds to commission the building. The build progressed quickly.
We found some dairy farmers...
Out of over 80 applicants which we interviewed and met we finally settled on a couple from Suffolk. Jason and Katharine Salisbury, who are experienced dairy farmers currently running there own farm. Check out the famers!
Sark welcomed its new arrivals...
In late 2020 the majority of the build was completed and we welcomed Jason, Katharine and the cows to Sark. This was a big moment and signified a return to dairy self sufficiency on Sark.
Help us reach our funding goal...
The last 100k of the funding campaign will take us to the finish line and we have been busy with lots of fun events; Bake off, Jumble Sales, Promise Auctions and Raffles. We have now also launched our 'Heroes Campaign' to specifically seek support from other businesses. This will enable the Sark community dairy to be fully funded and operating as a viable business.
