The Pony Group is building and launching an interactive Farm Bus, complete with live chickens and hydroponics, to drive nationwide awareness and understanding of how our food is grown, in a playful and engaging way. Co-owner Josh Eggleton MBE has brought on board leading chefs from around the UK, including Angela Hartnett OBE, Tom Kerridge, Sally Abé and Jude Kereama, to host a series of fundraising dinners with him at The Pony in Chew Valley, Somerset. The proceeds will be put towards their fundraising target of £100,000 to launch the bus in spring 2025.
To help tackle the big issue of food education, Josh and Holly have looked to their friends around the UK to help. Launching this December, the event series ‘The Pony Farm Bus Fundraiser’ will see four chefs collaborate with Josh to prepare and serve a six-course feast at The Pony Group’s flagship restaurant, The Pony in Chew Valley, Somerset. Starting December 2024, the dinners will take place once a month with each chef taking three of the six courses on a collaborative menu with Josh, using produce from The Pony’s garden. The series will launch with Tom Kerridge on 10th December 2024, followed by Sally Abé on 21st January 2025, Angela Hartnett OBE on 4th February 2025 and Jude Kereama on 18th March 2025.
Tickets include six courses and a welcome drink, with 80% of each ticket sale going towards the Farm Bus fund. Tickets for the dinners will be released in phases between now and January; the first dinner with Tom Kerridge is available to book now. All chefs are donating their time to the events, which will also be supported by volunteers from across The Pony Group.
The proceeds will be put towards converting a vintage double decker bus into a ‘mobile farm’, designed to travel across the nation and inspire a cross-section of communities to engage with the true provenance and journey of the food that they eat. The Pony Group has also set up a Crowdfunder page for anyone who wishes to donate to the cause. Once the bus is complete in spring 2025, it will tour the country and visit each of the chef’s locations, hosting a talk or demonstration for their community. It will also tour schools, festivals and events around the UK, with The Pony team on board offering access to valuable information on food origins, cooking, nutrition and sustainability practices.
The initiative aims to enhance people’s understanding of where their food comes from, promoting food literacy and healthier choices. It hopes to empower and inspire through learning opportunities such as cooking classes, workshops, demonstrations and informational resources. The bus will feature a live growing system (hydroponics), chickens, planters, a demonstration platform, kitchen, dining and picnic areas and a library of resources; it will have everything needed to share farming practices and more in an inspiring, compact and mobile space.
Access to food education remains an important issue and challenge throughout the UK. Ofsted’s new Common Inspection Framework, for instance, now asks inspectors to look at the extent to which schools are successfully supporting pupils to gain knowledge of how to keep themselves healthy, and make informed choices about healthy eating and fitness. The Pony’s intention is to visit 25 schools a year, reaching 2,500 school children over the course of 2025. In addition, once a month, they hope to bring the bus to community groups and festivals to reach a diverse audience, working with charities and organisations such as the NHS.
The Farm Bus was inspired by siblings Josh and Holly Eggleton’s existing community efforts across Bristol and Somerset, developed over 18 years since launching The Pony & Trap and building The Pony Group. During this time, they became increasingly aware of food insecurities and lack of educational opportunities in their local area, with rural and urban communities both facing their own challenges. They have previously tackled the issue by founding initiatives in their hometown city of Bristol, such as The Anti-Banquet in February this year, which raised £100,000 for the Bristol Local Food Fund. Josh also founded Team Canteen, a community interest company spearheading numerous charity projects for food businesses and underrepresented communities, which will once again provide meals for the homeless in Bristol this Christmas.
In 2021, Josh was awarded an MBE for services to the community in Bristol during Covid-19, having founded Cheers Drive – the precursor to Team Canteen – in partnership with Caring in Bristol, to feed the city’s homeless three meals a day.
In addition to this continued work, The Pony hosts local schools, community groups and food charity projects at the gardens and Cookery School about once a month, donating their space and time. It has close ties with The MAZI Project, who use the school frequently and who started following a report commissioned by Caring in Bristol and in Hope, which found: “There are not enough services in the city to support people to develop food independence.”
With The Pony Farm Bus, they are keen to drive these efforts further afield; sharing knowledge to empower the next generation and providing a platform to facilitate conversation. All while injecting some fun along the way. Josh Eggleton MBE, co-owner of The Pony Group, says: “We understand that not everyone has access to one of our six sites, so it has been an idea of ours for ages to take our message and ethos on the road. We would love to see the bus busy and active, going out to the Southwest and beyond; but as important as the issue of food education is, we also want to keep this fun.”
Holly Eggleton, co-owner of The Pony Group, says: “Immersing ourselves into the community is behind everything we do, and it’s been a real community effort getting the wheels of the Farm Bus in motion. As much as we’re looking forward to seeing it out and about in our local area, it will also be exciting for our teams to travel around the country, helping all sorts of groups.”
Anyone can apply to use the bus once it is up and running, with no charge for schools or charities. The Pony team will work with the school or organisation to deliver interactive sessions relevant to the location, age of attendees and what produce is in season. Options will range from demonstrations to large groups, to groups of 25-30 getting on board for learning opportunities around produce, growing and cooking, with each session lasting around an hour, depending on the agreed content.
Short cooking sessions allowing everyone to get involved, such as collecting eggs from the chickens before cooking them, will create an engaging and sensory learning experience. The hydroponic growing will showcase herbs for tasting and cooking, while produce from The Pony Garden and talks from their growers will illustrate plot-to-plate eating. The bus will be led by The Pony Group team, largely with volunteers from across the group. Partners Arthur David, the food distribution company who have worked on the bus since its inception, will continue to support with maintenance, staff volunteering and produce donations. There will also be opportunities for guests who share The Pony’s values to host and cover specific topics.
Applications will open from 25 January 2025 via The Pony’s website. The application process will determine the location, objectives of the visit and ages and number of attendees. Applicants can select from a number of packages, such as ‘Growing’ or ‘Cooking’, and work with The Pony team to create something more bespoke if required.
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