Bury St Edmunds-based charity erect giant polytunnel

A Bury St Edmunds charity is expected to benefit from drier working conditions following the purchase of an enormous polytunnel.

The Millennium Farm Trust (MFT), based at Depden Farm shop on the A143 near Chedburgh, received a £2k grant from the Suffolk Community Foundation to buy the 24ft x 72ft polytunnel.

The grant was matched pound for pound by the charity’s own fundraising and the was erected with help from a group of volunteers from Bury St Edmunds-based company TREATT.

Tim Freathy, director of MFT, said: “We are hugely grateful to Suffolk Community Foundation for the grant.

“Having such a massive indoor space for our farm helpers to work when conditions outside are poor, will make a big difference the services we can provide and the benefits it brings to the people that come here will be enormous.”

The grant will also be used to purchase raised beds at different heights, which will enable people with mobility issues to grown their own fruit and vegetables under cover.

The rest of the space will be used to grow tomatoes and salad crops in the summer, as well as to steal a march on the growing season in spring.

MFT is a charity that offers structured work-based experience in a farm setting to people with learning disabilities.

A bake-off competition in aid of the MFT was held at the shop on Saturday, raising more than £190. There were an array of cakes and biscuits with overall winner Sandra Ashman receiving a £70 hamper of goodies from the shop.