After a year of operation, Community Harvest Whetstone (CHW) is looking to expand from a small field to a 2 acre plot.

To help us get the new plot fit for purpose we are looking to raise £10,000 from the local community through a capital share offer.

This is an opportunity to invest in a local project, producing local healthy food, giving local employment and helping to revive the community aspect of food production.

The Project
CHW is a co-operative that started in 2009 as an offshoot of Transition Leicester. Our main aim is to produce vegetables in an environmentally sound way while reconnecting the people of Leicester with the places their food comes from.

The project was inspired by the Community Supported Agriculture approach, a system which turns consumers into crop sharers who, by paying ahead of receiving the produce, share in the risks and successes of farming with the added bonus of becoming part of a dynamic community of people who can meet regularly for social events, contribute to the work in the field and have a say on how the project is run.

The Produce
In our first year we focussed on producing vegetables in a large polytunnel and a small field for 10 crop sharers who, since March 2010, have been collecting their weekly shares of the harvest. 

Last Autumn, we started expanding into a 2 acre field so that we are now able to offer an additional 20 vegetable shares to as many subscribing members, rising to a total of 40 in the following year.

The Offer
To achieve that, the new area will need protection from rabbits and plenty of work to improve the soil from arable standard up to vegetable growing quality.

To help us raise the necessary funds we are launching a capital share offer.
Shares valued at £1.00 each are offered, with a minimum holding of 100 shares.  (ie 100 shares = £100)

As CHW is an Industrial and Provident Society run under cooperative rules, each member or share holder will have one vote, irrespective of the number of shares purchased.

The shares will be non-transferable, which means that share holders may only sell them back to CHW.

To help with our financial security the investment should be regarded as long-term and last for a minimum of 3 years.

After that withdrawals will be possible subject to a notice period of 6 months and every year CHW will able to buy back up to 10% of all the shares held by all the investors.

The Return
We do not anticipate paying dividends on these shares in the short term or at least until the expansion phase is over and the business becomes consolidated.

We see this share offer as an opportunity for social investment and a chance to get involved in a sustainable and innovative enterprise.

It should not be intended for personal gain or profit.

The Next Step
If you would like to support this project, please download a copy of our Terms and Conditions and an application form which is also available from our document archive, where you can also view our business plan.

Paper copies of our business plan are available if required.

For more information on this share offer you can send an email to info@community-harvest-whetstone.org.uk or contact our treasurer Keith Campbell on 07860 388525.

For the latest information on Community Harvest Whetstone, please visit our website or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.