The goal of The Country Trust is to connect local school children with working farms to discover how food is grown and produced in Britain. They work in areas with high rates of economic insecurity, offering programs that allow young people to visit farms, grow and prepare food and explore the outdoors.
Aligning values
The Country Trust is a charity that is close to the heart of our firm. As a leading law firm in the agriculture sector, we understand that farming is much more than just business: it's about family, community, and history too. The charity embodies this ethos, educating the next generation on the importance of the sector.
The charity also aligns with our own ESG focus of supporting young people, helping overcome disadvantages and improving social mobility.
Our support
We first connected with the charity in 2019 when our agriculture team volunteered at a farm visit; we also gave the charity a £500 grant to fund the visit. Since then, we have worked with the team at The Country Trust, supporting them with volunteering, further grant funding and connecting them with our extensive network of clients, including a variety of farming contacts and banking businesses, making a real difference to their fantastic initiative.
Since 2022, we’ve supported the charity with over £9,000 in grants, most recently in 2024 with a grant of £5,000. This paid for six farm visits in total.
In the same year, we held a Harvest Festival quiz where we raised £850 for The Country Trust, which funded a farm visit in October for St. Lawrence’s Primary School, for 25 children in Year 2 (six and seven-year-olds) who enjoyed an exciting day at Broxfield Farm, near Alnwick, hosted by David Thompson At the event, the charity was able to connect with a number of other businesses in attendance, which led to one appointing The Country Trust as their charity of the year.
The Country Trust has developed a great relationship with Muckle; it’s not only the financial support that is so important, but the enthusiasm of the wider team, many of whom use their volunteering days to don a pair of wellies and come out on the farms to help the Country Trust visits, providing additional help for the hundreds of disadvantaged primary school children we work with. We are also indebted to the ambassadorship of so many at Muckle LLP, who have introduced us to other valuable supporters and championed our cause with professional partners and clients alike.