Severn Trent Community Fund supports the next chapter for The Countryside Kitchen

The Countryside Kitchen is delighted to have received core funding from the Severn Trent Community Fund, helping us strengthen our organisation and expand the community work we deliver over the next 12 months.

Since opening The Countryside Kitchen at Orchard Farm in Yelvertoft, our aim has been simple: to create an inclusive, welcoming place where people can reconnect with food, farming and the countryside through practical, hands-on experiences.

Our workshops bring together cooking, growing, farming, nutrition and outdoor learning, welcoming children, families, community organisations and adults with a wide range of needs and backgrounds.

As our work has grown, so too has the need for more capacity behind the scenes. That's why support from the Severn Trent Community Fund is so important.

Building capacity for the future

The core funding will help support our community work over the coming year, including the appointment of Kelly Alders as our Community Outreach Manager. Kelly will work alongside founder and director Milly Fyfe MBE, supporting the planning and delivery of workshops as well as developing relationships with schools, community organisations, funders and other partners. She will also help identify new opportunities and ensure that more people who could benefit from spending time at The Countryside Kitchen are able to access what we offer.

Unlike funding attached to one particular workshop or activity, core funding helps provide organisations with stability and the capacity to keep delivering their wider work – something highlighted by Severn Trent in its Community Fund guidance.

For a small community organisation like ours, that capacity is incredibly valuable.

Milly Fyfe MBE, founder and director of No Fuss Meals for Busy Parents CIC, which runs The Countryside Kitchen, said: “It is a unique and incredibly fortunate opportunity for us to have the support of the Severn Trent Community Fund. As a small organisation with big ambitions for the communities we serve, one of our greatest challenges is having the capacity to turn ideas and opportunities into reality.

“This funding gives us something incredibly valuable – time and people. Having Kelly join us as Community Outreach Manager means we can strengthen relationships with the organisations we already work with, develop new partnerships and reach more people who could benefit from spending time at The Countryside Kitchen.

“We have achieved so much in a relatively short period of time, but I know there is considerably more that we can do. Having Severn Trent invest in the organisation behind that work gives us greater stability and confidence to build for the future, and we are hugely grateful for their support.”

Welcoming Kelly to the team

Kelly said: “I’m incredibly proud to be supporting an organisation that has community at the heart of everything it does. The Countryside Kitchen is such a fantastic cause, bringing together education, agriculture, nutrition and practical learning in a way that can make a real difference to people’s lives.

“I love that the work reaches people of all ages and backgrounds, helping them understand where their food comes from, how it is produced and the importance of making healthy, sustainable choices. “I’m really looking forward to playing a part in supporting the organisation’s growth and helping more people discover what The Countryside Kitchen has to offer. It’s a privilege to be involved in something that is so focused on supporting people, connecting communities and creating meaningful opportunities to learn.

“Working alongside Milly is also a huge part of what makes this opportunity so exciting for me. Her passion, vision and commitment are genuinely inspiring, and I feel very lucky to be able to learn from her and contribute to something she has created with such purpose. I’m really looking forward to what we can achieve together over the next year.”

More opportunities to connect with food, farming and the countryside

Over the next year, the additional capacity will allow The Countryside Kitchen to continue developing its work with schools, community groups and partner organisations, while building new relationships across the surrounding area.

 We want to build an organisation that is sustainable for the long term and can continue providing meaningful opportunities for people to cook, grow, learn, spend time outdoors and understand more about where their food comes from.

We are enormously grateful to the Severn Trent Community Fund for recognising the value of this work and investing in our future. Severn Trent's Community Fund is supporting local charities and community organisations with more than £20 million over the ten years from 2020, with funding decisions made by an independent panel of Severn Trent customers.



We can't wait to see what the next 12 months bring.