An educational charity based at a farm a few miles outside Exeter is raising money for a new minibus through a very modern approach – crowdfunding.

organicARTS, which runs an arts and education centre at West Town Farm, has already raised £22,500 of the £30,000 needed for the Minibus. It is now using Crowdfunder.co.uk to raise the remaining £7,500.

As is usual with crowdfunding, everyone who pledges money to the campaign will receive a reward as a thank-you. Pledge £5, for example, and your name will appear on the ‘roll of honour’ on the organicARTS website. Pledge £100 or more, and your name will be painted on the back of the minibus.

However if organicARTS fails to raise the full amount before the campaign comes to an end, the project will not be funded and all pledges will be returned. The amount raised currently stands at £6,698 with only three days remaining.

Activities on the land

organicARTS helps many different people, from those with mental health issues to those recovering from drug and alcohol misuse. The new minibus would provide groups and individuals with the opportunity to “visit a working farm, engaging in activities on the land and using natural materials in fresh air”.

Here is a short video introducing the good work that organicARTS does as a charity and showing why a new minibus is so desperately needed:

If, like us, you would like to support organicARTS, simply visit the campaign on Crowdfunder and make a pledge.

Update 4 April 2015: We’re pleased to be able to say that organicARTS hit its target on 1 April and the campaign actually ended up being overfunded. The additional funding will be used towards maintaining and developing the charity’s community garden throughout 2015. Our congratulations to organicARTS and we hope you make good use of your minibus.