Stoke-on-Trent residents have come together to support City Farm, Bucknall, after a fire over the weekend destroyed a shed containing vital equipment. 

Volunteers have been working hard since January to rebuild and reopen the farm which closed in 2011 due to a lack of funding. 

Before it closed, City Farm was incredibly popular with the local community and saw around 96,000 visitors a year. 

The incident happened at around 1am on Sunday 19 March (City Farm).

Ali Abdlbaki, Head of Marketing, told Stoke Nub News: "At around 1am on Sunday, someone traspassed into the farm, we believe from the old railway line, and set fire to the shed which had been put up only a couple of weeks ago by volunteers. 

"That's where we were storing drills, kettles, propane gas and other equipment and it was all set on fire.

"Since the incident we've had lots of messages from the local community showing support and local businesses have offered to buy us a new shed and equipment. 

"We've also had a lot of donations on our Crowdfunder so although it was a negative, it's shown us how close the community is."

City Farm was a thriving local attraction in the 80s and 90s (Tom Lampard).

City Farm was hoping to open this Easter, but Ali said that they are now looking at opening in April or May as "there is a lot of work still to be done". 

If you would like to volunteer at City Farm, fill out their volunteer form.

City Farm are also looking for a marketing team and young people to run their new social media channels (Instagram and TikTok) - Contact them on their Facebook page for more information. 

City Farm is of huge cultural importance to the Bucknall community (Tom Lampard).

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