Origins of Thrive Farms
Thrive Farms has its origins in a community group called Manx People’s Community Support. This support group was started by 5 friends who connected attention the beginning of 2020 whilst all of our worlds were changing rapidly. Through the struggle, these 5 friends had worries and questions about what was happening in the world and we were consistently having conversations with others about similar worries. It became apparent that a lot of people wanted a support system… MPCS was born, and still continues to this day. For a period, MPCS split into focus groups… one of them being “Thrive”, in which the idea was, how do make change ourselves. This is the where the original idea came from.
Hitting the jackpot with our farm!
They say “fortune favours the bold!” and this rang true in this case. I started to knock on doors to ask for land, with no idea what I was actually asking for or how it would work. The only certainty was the need for us to grow our own food and become self sustainable for future generations. Call it divine timing, as one the doors we happened to knock on was the door of the most amazing couple who were on the verge of retirement. Conversations went well and and understanding was quickly found that this was a possibility.
Then we took a walk around the land…! Just wow!!
What this lovely couple has managed to achieve with this land can take your breath away. The care and attention given to the land, mixed with the surrounding landscape of the beautiful north side of the mountains, provides the perfect place to create such a thriving community of like minded people who want to create that better future for the island.
With the beds already set and the poly tunnels already erected, Manx Thrive Society and Thrive Farms could really hit the ground running. Year 1 was purely for myself to learn how to grow vegetables. Although the learning will never end, a good base knowledge was gathered in year 1. Year 2 was about creating the right business structure that best fit the ideology of the initial group. With transparency and community at the heart of everything we do.
Mixing business with community
Now that the perfect farm has been found and a year of learning had took place, year 2 was about the business structure. Many avenues were explored and many hours put into research. We stopped on what is called a “Community Benefit Society”. This particular legislation gave us the perfect platform to run a community owned and community led business where it is required to spend any profits on the business. This means when you sign up as a member, donate your money or your time, you know it is going to the cause you have invested in.
Consistent growth into the future
We have finally got to a place of relative stability. We have established a consistent presence At the two biggest markets on the island and we are set to open a store in the near future, teaming up with a network of local producers. this is all great but our focus remains on growing vegetables as this is our foundation! to do this on a large scale, WE NEED YOU! We need as many volunteers as we can get. The best days are the summer days with volunteers all working side by side, kids running around, not a foot with a shoe on in sight and lots of laughs! Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?
