Overview
Cranborne Chase Cider was set up with a grant from our Sustainable Development Fund. This on-farm diversification project created a new business and brought two old orchards and many trees in local gardens into management; prolonging the life of the trees, preserving the older varieties to be found locally and creating an economic use for local apples that were otherwise going to waste.
What was done
This project allowed a twenty-year-old farmer’s son to stay on the family farm. The farm is too small to support more than the farmer and his wife in full time employment.
Outputs/Outcomes
- Two FTE created.
- Grant of £895 levered £5,000 private investment. (1:5.5)
- Cranborne Chase Cider is now bottling far more volume and is on sale in local outlets as well as providing a local cider bar in events such as the Great Dorset Steam Fair and Larmer Tree Festival.
Learning
Determination, inspiration and skills of the applicant and his family.
Links and further information
Cranborne Chase Cider Facebook page
DorsetLife news article - Dorset Lives: ‘Cider’
This continues to be one of the projects that our Grants Review Panel keep mentioning, from the over 100 projects that we have done since 2005.
Project Manager