OLMC are proud sponsors of The Organic Research Centre’s Organic Farm Management Handbook 2023 and keen supporters of their Feed the Soil appeal.
BIGGIVE 18th – 25th April, 2024
Feed The Soil: Appeal Launched to Combat Soil Degradation in the UK – only 1 week to have your donation doubled!
The Organic Research Centre (ORC) have been chosen as one of the benefitting charities of the Green Match Fund campaign 2024 with their Feed the Soil appeal. The campaign is organised by the Big Give, the UK’s biggest online match funding platform, in partnership with the Environmental Funders Network (EFN), to support charities playing a vital role in tackling pressing environmental issues.
In order to unlock the £50,000, the ORC have in the Big Give matching pot, they need to raise £50,000 in online donations during campaign week, 18-25 April!
The funds will go towards a project to explore organic composting methods to restore soil health and sustainability at farm scale. A comparison of different composting methods and application strategies under robust, controlled, conditions will be undertaken, so that clear guidance for farmers can be developed.
Lucy MacLennan, ORC’s CEO:
“Our Big Give match funding pot has generously been pledged by The Mark Leornard Trust and The Reed Foundation. We hope that all our supporters take this opportunity to have their donation doubled to help us reach our £100,000 target so that we can carry out our project and take the action urgently needed to restore soil health in the UK”.
Project partners ‘The Land Gardeners’, Henrietta Courtauld and Bridget Elworthy explain:
“The Feed the Soil project will establish a research and knowledge exchange programme on an organic estate linked to a network of satellite sites which are currently trialling a range of approaches to feeding the soil with compost. We are excited to be part of a project that has the potential to reduce reliance on synthetic crop inputs and improve soil microbial diversity and function.”
How can you get involved?
- Visit https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a056900002SEV5gAAH and make a donation from 12pm on Thursday 18th April. The campaign will close at midday on Thursday 25th April.
- Follow our progress via social media: LinkedIn @organic-research-centre; X/Twitter @OrgResCent; Facebook @OrganicResearchCentre; Instagram @orgrescent.
About ORC
The Organic Research Centre (ORC) is an independent research charity working for better and more sustainable farming systems that protect the environment and provide good food for everyone. It drives its own research agenda to tackle global issues by acting locally and finding community-based solutions for farmers and their supply chains. Its vision is that, together, we’ll deliver the transition to naturally healthy and resilient farming systems by:
- Leading change by connecting and collaborating internally and externally across our networks of researchers and farmers.
- Bringing new thinking to the mainstream by developing nature positive solutions through pioneering and rigorous independent research.
- Empowering people to embrace different ideas by translating our research into practical application and advice, influencing policymakers, farming communities and wider society.
- Demonstrating the economic as well as the environmental rationale for an alternative approach to improve livelihoods and social impact.
Established in 1980, for over 40 years the charity has played a central role in the development of organic food and farming research, knowledge exchange, policy and standard setting through:
- Participatory research
- Sharing knowledge
- Influencing policy
About The Land Gardeners
https://linktr.ee/thelandgardeners
Henrietta Courtauld and Bridget Elworthy established The Land Gardeners to research plant and soil health through growing, cutting and designing.
The mission of The Land Gardeners is to work with gardeners and farmers to improve the health of our land – creating beautiful, healthy plants, gardens, and farms brimming with biodiversity and life – all founded on healthy soil.
They run workshops, exploring healthy plants, healthy soil and biodiverse, living gardens.
About Big Give
Big Give is a registered charity (1136547) that runs match funded campaigns for charities and special causes at key moments across the year. By connecting charities to match funders (like philanthropists, foundations or corporates) and the public, Big Give helps them double their donations. And, in doing so, makes an extraordinary difference to the world’s biggest challenges. It has raised more than £280m for charities to date. Big Give campaigns have been promoted by celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, Emilia Fox, Dame Judi Dench and Stephen Fry, among others. It’s a simple idea – when the public donates to a charity through a Big Give campaign, it asks funders to match that donation. So £50 from a member of the public becomes £100 for a good cause.
Big Give has supported more than 5,500 charities and worked with some of the biggest names in UK philanthropy and charitable grant-making, which provide match funding, including DCMS, John Spiers, founder of Bestinvest and B Corp registered EQ Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, The Reed Foundation, The Waterloo Foundation, The Hospital Saturday Fund, The Childhood Trust and others including high-net-worth individuals such as Julia and Hans Rausing.
