Much-loved city farm facing closure without support

TRUSTEES CALLING ON COMMUNITY TO GET BEHIND RICE LANE SITE

- By DANNY GUTMANN

Chair of trustees at Rice Lane City Farm, Jamie Dowling with a baby goat, and below, feeding a donkey

(COLIN LANE)

RICE Lane City Farm has been at the heart of the local community for more than four decades, but workers warn it could soon close for good amid the risk of bankruptcy.

Last October, the ECHO reported the Walton farm was “never more than months from closing” due to a lack of funding, and in recent days, its future is increasingly more uncertain.

After a GoFundMe page was launched this week, the farm’s chair of trustees and director, Jamie Dowling, 47, has said the farm is at risk of bankruptcy. She told the ECHO: “We need your support, we need it right now. We're going to do a community get-together, where we're asking for your help.