An innovative Agri-Tech Education Centre project at Hartpury University needed £1M in matched funding.

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In February 2018, Hartpury University and Hartpury College in Gloucestershire successfully submitted a proposal for an innovative Agri-Tech Education Centre at their campus farm to the Gfirst Local Enterprise Partnership (Gfirst LEP) fund and secured £1M for the new initiative.

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The GFirst LEP funding would only be achieved if Hartpury University and Hartpury College were able to match the funding pledge pound for pound from other donors. Hartpury University approached Orchard Fundraising and asked us to secure matched funding for the project.

 

With a restricted timeframe and a significant amount of funding to be secured, Orchard Fundraising got to work straight away and set off to research local philanthropists and trusts and foundations with a keen interest in agriculture, education and economic sustainability.

 

We developed a detailed Case for Support, ensuring we were exploring all the avenues available to us to achieve a successful result for our client.

 

Likely prospects were rapidly approached and initial discussions held, leading to pledged gift amounts from a number of sources.

 

Orchard Fundraising then ensured all liaison with the potential donors was taken care of until the relationships were well established. We are delighted that the initial relationships have been so successful they are likely to result in ongoing partnerships for the University and College.

 

Building the Agri-Tech Education Centre commenced in early 2019, at which point £215,000 had already been secured for the work. This was under a year since first being tasked with the project.

 

However, our biggest achievement during this project was the identification of significant funding for agricultural student scholarships, bursaries and research. During the research phase, Orchard Fundraising identified a trust that was distributing their assets and had an interest in farming and widening diversity.  

 

We developed a bespoke proposition that met the trusts’ priorities, negotiated a transfer deed and successfully secured a £1Million endowment for agricultural education at Hartpury University and Hartpury College from The John Oldacre Foundation. Hartpury is proud to continue the legacy of John Oldacre through their students.