Making a Difference Meetings and Events

Wouldn’t it be great if you could plan an event that was not only fantastic, but environmentally friendly too.

We are committed to a purpose beyond profit – we want to be seen as one of the most sustainable green and carbon-neutral venues in the UK. We are committed to combining sustainability, wellbeing and fun into something very unique as well as memorable. We love supporting the local economy and developing young people who work at the farm.

We are passionate about working with wellbeing providers to raise wellbeing to the highest priority in Lancashire and we are committed to doing our part in preserving the future of the planet.

You’ve chosen a venue which is committed to minimising our impact upon our beautiful planet. We look at everything through a sustainability lens from purchasing to disposal by and try our best to be as sustainable as possible by:

We have re-purposed a beautiful old building that otherwise would have been left to ruin
Generating our own electricity via our own wind turbine
Using resources such as electricity and water as efficiently as possible: fresh air rather than air conditioning – we prefer to open a window and natural light rather than artificial
We use recycled props and décor for events for no additional charge which encourages the reduction of waste
Maintain areas of the farm through rewilding project with year-round wildlife in mind including planning butterfly and bee-friendly flowers and providing feeders for local wildlife and birds
Eliminate the use of single-use plastic products
Minimising and separating waste – particularly food waste, cardboard, glass and other recycling
Using fresh, seasonable products and ensuring that 80% of ingredients on our menus are British grown and sourcing as much as possible within a 30-mile radius of the farm and supporting local suppliers
Working to reduce and hopefully eliminate food waste and where food waste is generated, collecting and using all food waste for biomass fuel
Embedding sustainability as part of our team culture
Designing events which use sustainable materials and are waste free
Supporting diversity and equal opportunities
We are the first B Corp certified independent venue in the UK.

But can we go further? To go further we need your help – you can help by being a bit MAD in organising and planning your event ….

What on earth does this mean?

MAD stands for Making A Difference

For our Making A Difference Meetings and Events Scheme we aim to:

Put sustainability, mindfulness and wellness at the forefront of the meeting experience – use our venue to be inspired and empowered to overcome obstacles, find your purpose and make a bigger impact.
Support mental health by creating empathetic and reassuring spaces for delegates – delegates can balance productivity with sustainability and mental wellness to get the most out of the meeting.
Mindful meetings: complimentary ‘quiet, calm’ space for delegates to allow them to decompress before, during and after the meeting.
Unlimited filtered drinking water for hydration.
Food with great nutrition as well as great taste, sustainable, well-balance with brain food to aid concentration.

So, contribute to your company’s Corporate Social Responsibility by adopting our Making A Difference Meetings and Events Action Plan. Make a promise to develop new ideas and thinking so your company develops aspirations to make a bigger difference for yourself, your organisation, your employees and the world.

If you want to do more on the day of your event with small changes that make a big impact, there’s some further rewards that you can earn.

So, feel good and get involved by being MAD and getting involved in our Making a Difference Meetings and Events Action Plan:

We use fresh filtered water which means we don’t buy in sparkling or still bottled water.
We banned single use plastic items years ago and try to only use sustainable meeting supplies like paper and pens. Better still go paperless!
We only use seasonable sustainable food in your events menu so expect variations to the menus we offer and sometimes we surprise you by leaving it up to the Chef…. Menus that make the most of the seasons will have lower carbon footprints as produce is often cheaper as it is at its most abundant. We can also provide vegetarian and vegan options and other solutions for any dietary variations.
We will provide a healthy snack option as well as something sweeter so you can choose between being a saint or sinner!
Sadly, our local rural bus service has long since been stopped by our council and we are in a rural location, public transport is difficult. We do however have access to coach companies and details of train stations if you do want a greener transport solution. Or encourage your guests to travel together to reduce the number of vehicles used.
If you are using suppliers for your event, try and source local suppliers who are eco-friendly, socially conscious, and ethnical – try and reduce the miles (to a maximum of 20) between origin of product and the farm reducing the carbon footprint through sourcing and transport. Use suppliers from our wedding supplier list to help you or if you have to use Amazon, use Amazon Smile https://smile.amazon.co.uk/.#
Sustainable props – If you require additional props, consider renting these from a local company or buying them second-hand and donating them to our prop shed after your wedding so other couples can reuse them.
For every corporate booking made, we donate via B1G1 to a range of projects – each year as part of our B Corp certification we need to product an Impact Report where we will provide details of what organisations we have supported.
For each event we host, we will plant a physical tree on our farm.
Every corporate event booking will be given one free place to our Business As A Power For Good event which will take place yearly.