2025 in a Nutshell

We entered 2025 with our hearts in our mouths. After the cold and rain of spring 2024 sent the best laid plans of butterflies, bees, and growers agley, we wondered what was in store for the farm this year. Of course, no farmer has ever known that for sure, but climate change adds new extremes and more uncertainty. However, in the face of much sharper adversity and every type of violence, peasant farmers and indigenous land stewards in the Global South haven’t given up on climate justice and building an agroecological future, and neither have we…

In 2025, we increased supported participation in community food growing through new initiatives including The Great North Edinburgh Community Tattie Patch (a multi-partner collaboration involving 140+ people), and Plot to Plate (funded by EVOC, Edinburgh Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund). We also further extended our allotment plots, and increased engagement from the allotment holders in our biodiversity work – from building bee banks to introducing rescue hedgehogs. In our monitoring of key species, we saw recoveries in our butterfly and bee numbers from the 2024 low, and steady growth in bird species, among other encouraging results.

In food production, we extended the amount of land under cultivation, and started our distribution earlier, to an expanded number of households. Our Community Supported Agriculture scheme included 16% of members receiving veg bags at discounted rates, supported by members paying optional higher rates in solidarity. We also developed new wholesale relationships – another income stream to help secure the farm’s long-term future.

Across the farm, we improved paths, entrances and signage, and installed waymarking posts. These should enhance community access and engagement, and also help protect wildlife habitat areas. We continued tree and hedgerow planting and care, and felt the joy of seeing many broadleaf saplings growing well above the tops of their tree guards and becoming the woodland we imagined.

We were moved to receive this feedback from a tour we gave for students on the University of Edinburgh MSc Environmental Sustainability course:

This [the farm] should be an emblem for our sustainability course – everything we’ve learnt about is here in one place

Thank You to Our Funders & Supporters

All this is only possible thanks to funding support. The Food Issues Census 2024-25 report calls for unrestricted, substantial, multi-year funding for community-led initiatives, of the type we have received from the ESG Sponsorship from Britel Fund Trustees Limited, through Hermes Investment Management Limited. This is what has enabled us to start a farm from scratch and do as much as we’ve been able to do in just a few years. With our social return on investment ratio established at 1:5, we consider the funds invested to be worth at least five times as much in value to local communities/ecosystems.

We would like to say a heartfelt thank you to the teams at Federated Hermes and Britel Fund for understanding the need to fund the transition to agroecological farming, and for investing in the health and wellbeing of this community.

We are also very grateful for additional funding in 2025 from:

Awards for All, EVOC, University of Edinburgh, Ramblers Trust, Halleria Trust, Sowing Our Horizons, Edinburgh Airport, One City Trust, RSE, and SHED

The farm also received kind donations from members of the public, and from visiting groups.

For the benefit of the community, the City of Edinburgh Council leases the farmland to us on a stable, long-term agreement and has provided supportive advice and input.

The farm has a dedicated and lively community of volunteers and participants. From day one, local folk have engaged with caring for this place and have built a whole new community. Every effort shows at the farm – in the land, the people, the wildlife and the food.

We deeply appreciate everyone who cares for the land and supports the work of Edinburgh Agroecology Co-op to restore Lauriston Farm to a vibrant, thriving, nature-rich part of a local food system.

Why We Do What We Do

This work is our response to the call to transform farming and food at this critical moment. As the Food Ethics Council (Food Issues Census 2024-2025) says:

The need to transform food systems has never been more pressing. Issues such as hunger, public health crises, environmental degradation, economic instability, and social inequality are escalating, demanding more purposeful action from those shaping the future of food and farming.

Full Annual Report & Outline Plans for 2026

We offer this detailed annual report in the spirit of transparency and openness, to share the highs and lows of 2025, and our plans for 2026, with love from all at Edinburgh Agroecology Co-op. Download the annual report as a PDF: