Our team away day at the Leckford Estate

We looked at what’s gone well, what could be improved and how we can build on everything we’ve achieved together in our first 15 years. It was a great chance to step back from our busy routines and think about how our programmes, funding and guidance can have as much positive impact on family farms and rural communities as possible, so we can continue building a real future for rural Britain!

The Waitrose & Partners Farm is part of the estate and we were joined by Andrew Hoad, Director of the Leckford Estate, and his team, who told us more about the estate’s history as well as Waitrose’s Farming for Nature programme. Through this initiative, Waitrose is helping more than 2,000 British farmers adopt Nature-friendly practices as part of its commitment to reach net zero by 2035. A walk around the farm also gave us the chance to see this in action and meet Dudley, the farm’s famous bull!

Waitrose has been a partner of the RCF since we were founded in 2010 and has donated over £2.2m in that time. This has supported our farming programmes, including our flagship Farm Resilience Programme, which have reached more than 5,000 family farms across the UK. Waitrose has also helped us support rural communities through Happiness Grants, which funded six grassroots projects addressing challenges such as food poverty, mental health, skills and development opportunities, and loneliness and isolation.

Our visit was a reminder of the importance of collaboration and shared purpose, and of the incredible work being done by partners like Waitrose to help secure a resilient, sustainable future for the British countryside.