New Big Lunch team member Tracey tells us the story of one of the inspirational people she is working with, Fran.
Some of our lovely new team!
Recently The Big Lunch team all met at the Eden Project for a few days of getting to know each other, and not long after that our new Programme Delivery Manager Tracey was on her travels to meet some of the amazing people who are working to make their communities better across the UK.
“I travelled to Llanidloes to visit Fran Brockley on her wonderful, magical farm. Fran attended our Big Lunch Extras camp last year and over a mug of tea, told me about her plans for her farm.
Tracey and Fran
Fran’s organic farm is set in an isolated area of Wales, surrounded by other farmland. She offers accommodation and training to young people through Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) and when we arrived her kitchen was jam packed with eager people, eating, chatting and sharing their plans for the day.
Fran is developing two exciting new projects at her farm. She’s in the process of setting up a prehistoric farm site, looking at the point that humans began farming. The site will grow organically with new buildings and facilities being created by the people that visit, living and farming as they would have done in prehistoric times.
The second project is to develop a Wales wide walk that links up various interesting sites like Fran’s across the country. She has been building up knowledge and contacts over recent months and hopes that one of her WWOOF visitors may stay on as an intern and help build up the idea.
Fran had initial ideas for these projects before attending the Big Lunch Extras camp at Eden, but said the experience gave her the energy and boost which enabled her to turn the ideas into real possibilities. On returning from Eden she immediately sought out a mentor who has helped her gain business skills, set up an internship scheme and get the wheels moving on her ideas.”
If Fran’s story has inspired you to take action, check out Big Lunch Extras and take the first steps to making your community extraordinary.
You can follow Tracey on Twitter @TraceyJRobbins