Thanks to an ingenious initiative by Exeter based Chartered Surveyor, Kevin Bateman, the three Farming Help Charities: The Addington Fund, R.A.B.I and the Farming Community Network (FCN) have received a total of £20,405 to boost their funds.

As part of the move from the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) to the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), all entitlements had to be matched on a one-to-one hectare basis with the land on which farmers were making a claim. Kevin realised that many farmers had a miss-match between the two and whilst large blocks of entitlements could be traded economically in advance of the deadline, smaller numbers and fractions of entitlements may be lost forever because it was uneconomic to sell them. Kevin put out a national appeal for farmers and landowners to donate them to a pool which allowed them to be consolidated and sold for the benefit of the farming Charities.

“We are really grateful to all those who donated entitlements to the scheme to allow such a magnificent sum to be realised,” said Kevin Bateman who added; “We were working right up to the last weekend of the deadline, so it was great to have the full cooperation of the RPA who processed the transfers very promptly.”

Charles Smith of FCN recorded Farming Help’s gratitude to the farming press, who publicised the appeal, all those who donated entitlements, Kevin and his team who worked tirelessly on the project and to the RPA for their close cooperation. “ This windfall is very welcome and comes at a crucial time for the three charities which are all working flat-out supporting farming families facing extreme difficulties,” he concluded.