The Friendship Cafe

The St James City Farm is situated in the heart of the Barton and Tredworth area of Gloucester City. You could be forgiven for thinking that you were day dreaming if you’re in the middle of Gloucester and you see cows or sheep running about.

The farm was established 13 years ago by a group of committed locals under the guidance of Derek Wakefield-Brown. Derek was employed by the Gloucester City Council to run the Countryside Unit, looking after one of the big public parks on the outskirts of the city, but somehow got diverted and persuaded the council to allow this farm to be opened. This city farm was one of only 2 in the whole country that were funded and run by a local authority. But unfortunately in 2010 when the council started looking at where they could make savings, all non-statutory services came under the spotlight, and the farm would most certainly have been axed, the funding pulled and the land would have been sold off. That is why The Friendship Cafe decided it was time to step in.  We saw that this farm was too important an asset to be left to fold – we have lost various community buildings and projects over the years to the detriment of the residents, and decided that we had to act.

So on April 1st 2011 The Friendship Cafe took over the management of the site and employed Derek Wakefield-Brown and Sarah Hawkins to continue their great work on the farm. Along with a fantastic group of dedicated teenage volunteers our aim is to keep the farm afloat and make it even better than it has been in the past. To achieve this we wholly rely on the dedication and experience of the farm staff and volunteers, and the strong community links that is provided by The Friendship Cafe and GymNation. 

A key theme of this farm is that it’s very ‘hands on’, so subject to the health and safety measures and the welfare of the stock, children can get up close, handle and feed the animals. Well over a thousand visitors visit each month and the farm is open every day (except Sundays) between 9.30am-4.30 pm (3.30pm during Winter) and there is no entrance fee. We are also open on bank holidays.

The other significant feature is that the farm, under the guidance of Derek and fellow employee Sarah Hawkins, is run on a daily basis by a group of committed young people aged between 10 – 15 years old, all volunteers. The young people do all the mucking out, feeding, showing the public around and so on. Anyone whoever thought that young people are layabouts should come and see these young boys and girls, who are a credit to their community, spending hours each week, rain or shine, dedicated to the farm.

Future Ideas

We’ve already started working on different ideas including developing a ‘café corner’ and a riding arena for children and adults to learn about the care of horses and riding. We hope to build links with other farms and agricultural or animal related educational establishments such as Hartpury College or the Cirencester Agricultural college.

It’s 1.5 acres of paddocks housing a variety of rare breeds, including a pair of Dexter cows, Golden Guernsey and Pygmy goats, a Saddleback sow and a very small flock (6) of Cotswold lion sheep. A Bagot goat and her two kids have also arrived and there’s about 50 poultry of various backgrounds running around a retired Welsh Section A pony and lots of rabbits and guinea pigs.

Sponsor Us

If you think that you can sponsor us, even with something as small as a regular bale of hay or some tools, do contact us. We’ve already had offers of help from local residents and committed people working in different fields and look forward to you visiting our farm.



St James City Farm, Albany St, Gloucester GL1 4NG

Telephone for the farm (01452) 305728

Directions: from Barton St, turn into Clement Street (bike shop on corner) turn right into Upton St and first left into Albany St.

 Molly, a regular volunteer