Heeley City Farm

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the farm buildings. Heeley City Farm - Gardens 14-04-06.jpg
the farm buildings.

Heeley City Farm is a city farm in the district of Heeley, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It is a community-based and led training, employment and youth enterprise.

Heeley former cluster of villages now a suburb in the south of the City of Sheffield

Heeley is a former cluster of villages now a suburb in the south of the City of Sheffield, England. The village has existed at least since 1343, its name deriving from Heah Leah, High Lea then Hely, meaning a high, woodland clearing. Originally Heeley was divided into three: Upper Heeley was around the intersection of Myrtle Road and Heeley Green, Middle Heeley was on the Gleadless Road at Well Road, and Lower Heeley was on the London Road around Artisan View. At the 2011 Census the village formed part of the Gleadless Valley ward of the City of Sheffield.

Sheffield City and Metropolitan borough in England

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. With some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely industrial roots to encompass a wider economic base. The population of the City of Sheffield is 577,800 (mid-2017 est.) and it is one of the eight largest regional English cities that make up the Core Cities Group. Sheffield is the third-largest English district by population. The metropolitan population of Sheffield is 1,569,000.

South Yorkshire County of England

South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in England. It is the southernmost county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region and had a population of 1.34 million in 2011. It has an area of 1,552 square kilometres (599 sq mi) and consists of four metropolitan boroughs, Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. South Yorkshire was created on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972.Its largest settlement is Sheffield.

Heeley City Farm was founded in 1981 on land where the Sheffield South Relief road —commonly called the Heeley bypass, a scheme which blighted the lives of hundreds of local residents for 30 years— was to be built. Construction never started and the land was put to new use.

Heeley City Farm includes a wind and sun powered mini-farm and a number of environmental social enterprises and attractions. The focus of its work is in Heeley but increasingly it operates throughout Sheffield and into the South Yorkshire region, including work at Wortley walled garden, Dore and Meersbrook. Now over 25 years old and winner of several national and international awards, Heeley City Farm provides environmental, health, food and farming education to around 5,000 school children and several thousands adult visitors each year. The South Yorkshire Energy Centre (SYEC), which opened in August 2006, demonstrates renewable energy and sustainable building materials and techniques and provides advice and courses for building professionals, individual householders and school parties.

A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being—this may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for external shareholders. As a consumer, buying for a social enterprise is one of the most impactful methods of supporting positive social change and your community.

Heeley City Farm maintains a much needed green space in inner suburban Sheffield with recycling, healthy living facilities, a garden centre, cafe, and charity shop. Day care and training for up to 20 adults with learning difficulties is provided along with vocational training in horticulture for up to 100 unemployed adults, youth activities for up to 2,000 young people (including young people not attending school) and support for over 100 regular volunteers.

Heeley City Farm describes itself as a community or social enterprise; it is committed to supporting those most in need in its community using enterprising methods. It runs training programmes (including language and Basic Skills support) and creates jobs (by developing mini enterprises). Emphasis is placed on long term unemployed adults, people with learning disabilities and those suffering disadvantage or discrimination in achieving skills and employment and young people.

Community group of interacting living organisms sharing a populated environment; a social unit of human organisms who share common values

A community is a small or large social unit that has something in common, such as norms, religion, values, or identity. Communities often share a sense of place that is situated in a given geographical area or in virtual space through communication platforms. Durable relations that extend beyond immediate genealogical ties also define a sense of community. People tend to define those social ties as important to their identity, practice, and roles in social institutions. Although communities are usually small relative to personal social ties (micro-level), "community" may also refer to large group affiliations, such as national communities, international communities, and virtual communities.

Income comes mostly from social enterprise activity including public sector service contracts, enterprise sales and consultancy services. In 2005, less than 25% of income was described as funding but this included charitable funding and grants for specific projects or activities.

The public sector is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises.

The Farm recently began a program named "Digging our Roots" that teaches young people about British archaeological heritage. Part of this project has featured the reconstruction of an Iron Age Roundhouse, which began on 31 October 2008 and is due to be completed in early 2011. The University of Sheffield's Archaeological Department and student-run Archaeological Society are involved in the project and has been used as part of an Experimental Archaeological study.

The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humankind. It was preceded by the Stone Age and the Bronze Age. The concept has been mostly applied to Europe and the Ancient Near East, and, by analogy, also to other parts of the Old World.

Roundhouse (dwelling) type of house with a circular plan, usually with a conical roof

A roundhouse is a type of house with a circular plan, usually with a conical roof. In the later part of the 20th century modern designs of roundhouse eco-buildings started to be built using techniques such as cob, cordwood or straw bale walls and reciprocal frame green roofs.

University of Sheffield university in England, United Kingdom

The University of Sheffield is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It received its royal charter in 1905 as successor to the University College of Sheffield, which was established in 1897 by the merger of Sheffield Medical School, Firth College (1879) and Sheffield Technical School (1884).

Coordinates: 53°21′47″N1°28′05″W / 53.363°N 1.468°W / 53.363; -1.468

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.

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Meersbrook

Meersbrook is a suburban district in the south-west of Sheffield, England bordered by Nether Edge to the west, Norton Lees to the south, Heeley to the north and the Meersbrook allotment site to the east. Until 1950 it was part of the Sheffield Ecclesall constituency and now forms part of the Sheffield Heeley constituency. The district falls within the Gleadless Valley ward of the City. The name comes from the stream, the Meers Brook, a tributary of the River Sheaf which means 'boundary brook' and in ancient times this, along with the River Sheaf formed the boundary between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia. It remained as the boundary between Yorkshire and Derbyshire into the 20th century. Meersbrook itself was once several small communities which have given many roads their names; Rush Dale, Carfield & Cliffe Field and in 1857 was known as Mears Brook.

Beauchief and Greenhill electoral ward of Sheffield City Council

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Richmond, Sheffield suburb of Sheffield, England

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Gleadless Valley (ward) electoral ward of Sheffield City Council

Gleadless Valley ward—which includes the districts of Gleadless Valley, Heeley, Lowfield, and Meersbrook—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the southern part of the city and covers an area of 4.5 km2. The population of this ward in 2011 was 21,089 people in 9,516 households. It is one of the five wards that form the Sheffield Heeley parliamentary constituency whose Member of Parliament elected at the 2001 general election was Meg Munn. Gleadless Valley actually describes the valley that separates Hemsworth from Herdings, and is a broad area that covers several housing estates: Hemsworth, Herdings and Rollestone. Gleadless Valley is bordered by Gleadless and Norton.

London Road (Sheffield) street in Sheffield, United Kingdom

London Road is a shopping street in Sheffield, England. It leads south from the city centre near Moorfoot, parallel to Bramall Lane, through Sharrow, Highfield, Lowfield and Heeley, before becoming Chesterfield Road in Meersbrook next to The Crown Inn. Near Heeley Bridge was Heeley railway station, opposite the Bridge Inn. The road ended at Toll Bar bridge on the Meers Brook, the former boundary between Yorkshire and Derbyshire.

Shaw Trust is a charity in the UK which helps disabled and disadvantaged people into employment and independent living. It was formed in the village of Shaw in Wiltshire in 1982.

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Heeley railway station

Heeley railway station was a railway station in Sheffield, England. The station served the communities of Heeley, Meersbrook and Lowfield and was situated on the Midland Main Line near London Road on Heeley Bridge, lying between Sheffield Midland station and Millhouses railway station.


The School Room is a rock climbing training facility in the Heeley Bank School community centre, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The facility was originally built in 1993 by Gavin Ellis, Ben Tye and Andy Coish, as conditions at Peak District Limestone venues were not always ideal. The facility was made famous by its reputation for its extremely difficult problems. Many notable international rock climbers were trained at The School Room, including Ben Moon, Malcolm Smith, Jerry Moffat and Richard Simpson.

Advanced Manufacturing Park

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Meanwood Valley Urban Farm

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Sheffield Community Transport

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Autism Plus is charity in England, United Kingdom. An Autism specialist charity, they offer support to adults and young people with autism autistic, learning disabilities and mental health conditions.

The Rehab Group, originally established in 1949 as the Rehabilitation Institute to provide training services to people with tuberculosis, is an international not-for-profit organisation providing health and social care, training and education, rehabilitation, employment and commercial services.

SheffieldLive!, also known as SheffieldLive! 93.2FM, is a community radio and TV station established in 2003 as an independent company by the Community Media Association and is based in the city centre of Sheffield, England.

Uganda National Entrepreneurship Development Institute

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