Family behind England’s first-community owned farm unveiled as latest Honorary Graduates

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Mace Bearer Dr Jonathan Cooper, Harper Adams Vice-Chancellor Professor Ken Sloan, and new Honorary Graduates Ben and Charlotte Hollins onstage at Theatre Severn

A family who helped create England’s first-community owned farm and protect their fathers’ legacy have become Harper Adams University’s latest Honorary Graduates.

Charlotte and Ben Hollins received the accolades on-stage at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury at the end of the play Arthur’s Plough.

The drama recounts both their father’s life at Fordhall Farm in Market Drayton and his children’s subsequent battle to save the pioneering organic farm.

Bestowing the awards, Harper Adams University Vice-Chancellor Professor Ken Sloan told the assembled audience: “Ben and Charlotte’s story is one of courage, determination and an extraordinary belief in the power of community. It is also a story of family, farming and a commitment to a more sustainable future.

“As we have seen in tonight’s performance, their father, Arthur Hollins, was a remarkable agricultural pioneer.

“His commitment to organic farming was not simply a way of cultivating the land; it was a way of thinking. He questioned convention, learned from nature and believed in leaving the land in better condition for those who followed.

“It was this legacy that Ben and Charlotte inherited.”

While Arthur had striven over decades to help transform the farm and enrich its land, his family faced many struggles -not least in their battles to keep farming the fields they had tended for years.

Charlotte and Ben were in their early twenties when the farm’s then owners sought to sell their land and they found themselves in a battle against eviction – a battle which inspired a community to stand behind them.

They worked to turn the farm into one in which anyone who was interested in its work could buy shares, with the battle inspiring people not only in Shropshire – but across the country.

Their fight drew media attention from around the world and was backed by celebrities from Sting to Prunella Scales.

By the time the farm was saved, more than 8,000 people had become shareholders in its future.

Fordhall now has a staff of more than 30, runs a renowned farm shop, hosts an on-site café and opens its doors to the public and local schools.

This year marks two decades since the farm’s future was secured.

Professor Sloan added: “Ben has continued to farm at Fordhall, building a successful livestock enterprise and demonstrating that productive agriculture and environmental stewardship can go hand in hand.

“Charlotte has led the Fordhall Community Land Initiative, developing the farm as a place for education, conservation, volunteering, community and wellbeing.

“Together, they have made Fordhall much more than a farm. They have created a living example of what can happen when land, farming and community come together around a shared purpose.

“I understand the importance of celebrating significant milestones.

“So, as Harper Adams University marks its 125th anniversary, it is particularly fitting that we honour Ben and Charlotte on their 20th Anniversary year. Indeed, Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal visited our university and Fordhall on the same day.

“For 125 years, our University has championed knowledge, innovation, enterprise and practical action in service of agriculture and the rural economy. Ben and Charlotte have embodied those values over the last two decades.

“They have shown that age is no barrier to leadership, that adversity can become opportunity, and that a bold idea, when partnered with determination and community, can create lasting change.

“They have built on Arthur’s pioneering legacy and created one of their own: a legacy of sustainable agriculture, community ownership and belief in the future of farming.”

After receiving the award, Charlotte told the audience: “This is an extreme honour – thank you very much to Ken and everyone at Harper Adams for offering this to Ben and myself.

“Really, it goes to dad, and everything he created at Fordhall, without which we wouldn’t be here, and every single person that’s bought a share in Fordhall, that’s been to visit, that’s volunteered, that’s said something nice about us, that’s here today.

“We wouldn’t be here without all of you.

“Twenty years ago, it was just an idea, two kids, and a very cold farmhouse – and 8,000 strangers, twenty years later, have become friends.

“We are hugely indebted, and forever will be, for everybody that has supported and continues to support us on that journey, because we are living our best lives – and it wouldn’t be possible without the support of everybody – so thank you so much!”

Speaking afterwards, Professor Sloan added: “Presenting the Honorary Degrees at the end of the updated Arthur’s Plough play seemed a fitting way to add a new chapter to the story of the Hollins family.

“We are very grateful to Theatre Severn, Love Lee Productions, Chris Eldon Lee, Maggie Love, The Moonlight Revellers and the Midnight Singers for allowing us to join them for the night.”

To find out more about Fordhall Farm, click here.