Maidenhead trio join forces on project to establish new community farm

A trio from Maidenhead have joined forces on a project to establish a new community farm in the town.

Filing Good founder Nelly Semaille, former Royal Borough councillor and Green Skills Library founder Donna Stimson and Maidenhead resident Rachel Child are on a mission to create a space enhancing Maidenhead’s community spirit.

The team are also looking to build mental health resilience and support those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), as well as tackling climate change and biodiversity loss.

The project is in its early stages and the team are still looking for a site for the farm.

Explaining how the project came to fruition, Nelly said: “We are not the first ones to think of having a community farm in Maidenhead, it is an idea that has been around for a long time.

“We came together, and we thought it would be wonderful to have a place where we could, at the same time combat climate change and hence biodiversity but also improve the mental health of local residents.

“In Maidenhead, what we understand is...mental health is an issue but also the provision for SEND pupils. “

With this in mind, the farm will provide training and work experience opportunities for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

“The goal was to bring all of those things together [and] have a place where you could have SEND pupils who have the opportunity to have work experience [and] local residents who could be involved and grow vegetables locally.

“It’s better for health and it’s better for the environment.”

To scope the amount of interest in having a community farm in the town, the team posted about the idea on several online groups and have since garnered the support of around 100 people.

She added: “Our vision – we see it as nourish the people, save the earth, save the soil and share the outcome of those things.

“In Maidenhead our green spaces are under constraint all the time.

“There is a big ask for allotments and people want to grow their things.

“I think the UK is producing just a fraction of what is needed in terms of fresh fruit and vegetables, so there is a need also with climate change coming, to be more resilient, to be able as a community to grow our own food.

“It’s something critical, I believe.”

Nelly said the farm will be used to grow fruit and vegetables, but the team also want to look to open a community cafe and have animals also.

The team was due to hold an in-person planning session at the Eco Action Hub in the Nicholsons Centre yesterday (Thursday) evening to meet residents, hear their views and ideas, and understand how they want to be involved.

An online Zoom planning session is also due to be held from 7pm to 8.30pm on Wednesday, January 29.

If the team can secure a location, Nelly said they are hoping to start preparing the site in September and are hoping to have their first crop in spring 2026.

Nelly added: “It has been fantastic to see how many people have expressed interest.

“It’s really good. It’s just at the start so we really need to capture that and build on it and get going really.”

The link to the online Zoom session can be found at: https://teams.live.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fmeet%2F9391030907170%3Fanon%3Dtrue&type=meet&deeplinkId=ec0eaf54-948b-47a7-b0db-fde53f6e1aa8&directDl=true&msLaunch=true&enableMobilePage=true&suppressPrompt=true

To register for the session, visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/2935866719910809/?acontext=%7B%22ref%22%3A%2252%22%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22[%7B%5C%22surface%5C%22%3A%5C%22share_link%5C%22%2C%5C%22mechanism%5C%22%3A%5C%22share_link%5C%22%2C%5C%22extra_data%5C%22%3A%7B%5C%22invite_link_id%5C%22%3A579919628146093%7D%7D]%22%7D