A ‘CoFarming’ Pilot in Abbey, Cambridge
CoFarm Cambridge was an innovative community farm pilot by the CoFarm Foundation, designed to transform urban green space into a productive, nature-friendly market garden. Over the course of the project, the initiative engaged hundreds of local volunteers in the Abbey ward of Cambridge to grow sustainable food, enhance local biodiversity, and support community food hubs tackling food poverty. The River Cam CAN (Climate Action through Nature) supported a dedicated Community Engagement Coordinator, some activities and operations at CoFarm Cambridge between 2023 and 2025.
As well as growing great, climate- and nature-friendly food together, volunteers -CoFarmers – helped create essential farm infrastructure together, which included the creation of a sustainably coppiced sweet chestnut fence along one boundary of the farm, a rainwater harvesting structure and shelter also from sweet chestnut so that the farm could capture and store rainwater for use in the drier months.
While CoFarm Cambridge has not been active on the site since Summer 2025, the project’s legacy lives on. Grow Cambridge, a Community Interest Company run in partnership by Abbey People and Cambridge Sustainable Food, has adopted and revived the physical site and core concept. Continuing the mission of local food resilience, volunteering, and neighbourhood connection, the space remains a vital community-led growing hub.
Photo credit: Tony Buckingham
| Dates | 2023-2025 |
| Status | Closed |
| Area of habitat created or improved | 7-acre plot of agricultural land (including a 2-acre market garden, orchard and wildlife margins) just off Barnwell Road in the Abbey ward, adjacent to Coldham’s Common and Coldham’s Brook 2.83 ha |
| Location | Barnwell Road, Abbey, Cambridge |
Partners and Funders
