Gorgie City Farm: Mystery donor boosts appeal by £20,000

The Queen visited Gorgie City Farm in July

A fundraising appeal to save a well-loved city farm has received a mystery donation of £20,000.

Gorgie City Farm in Edinburgh fell into financial difficulty and called in a liquidator earlier this month.

Since then, a fundraising page called Save Gorgie Farm has been collecting donations to try to secure a future for the site.

Former staff members revealed on Wednesday that an anonymous benefactor had given the lump sum.

On their Edinburgh Community Farm Facebook page, they posted: "Dear Edinburgh & beyond. The GoFundMe page is now at an incredible £92,665.

"This morning an anonymous person donated £20,000. Who knew 18 days ago that we could be so strong together?

"We can now add 92,665 more reasons to our list of why this farm is so important to the community."

'Positive news'

The group said that more than 3,000 people had donated to the appeal, from Ireland to Australia.

The farm closed its doors on 1 November with the loss of 18 jobs. Two staff remain on site to care for the animals.

Last week the liquidator revealed ten charities and commercial organisations had "expressed interest" in buying the farm.

Liquidator Shona Campbell, of MHA Henderson Loggie, called it positive news but warned it could take many weeks before they would be able to submit proposals and secure the funding that is required to take over the running of the farm.

Gorgie City Farm gave volunteering opportunities and support to disadvantaged young people and adults.

It welcomed about 200,000 visitors a year since it was saved from closure in 2016 after a crowdfunding appeal raised in excess of £100,000.

• Gorgie City Farm: Ten buyers interested in liquidated site

• Gorgie City Farm: One of Scotland's last urban farms collapses

The farm has about 50 livestock and 50 pets. They include sheep, pigs, ducks, geese and chickens and a number of smaller animals including snakes and lizards.

The farm received funding from City of Edinburgh Council, various trusts and individual donors. Its cafe and animal boarding service also generated income.

It chairman George Elles blamed falling revenues due to a decline in external funding and rising costs.