Stepney City Farm announces appointment of New CEO

Stepney City Farm is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin Moore, as Stepney City Farm’s Chief Executive Officer. Since joining the farm’s management team in May 2015 the farm has benefited from Kevin’s leadership and business management skills, as well as his knowledge of the local community, as someone who has he has lived in the East End for twenty years. He is currently proactively promoting and developing the farm’s projects both locally and in the wider community and helping the farm develop a long-term strategic vision.

Kevin says, “Stepney City Farm is part of East London that I know and love. It’s an incredibly exciting opportunity to work somewhere with animals at the heart of its activities and to extend my knowledge of horticulture. I am particularly interested in food growing and having eaten at the award winning café here it felt like home.”

He added, “I am now looking at how to fundraise and generate income for the farm. I aim to increase the farm’s self-generated income and to put the farm on the path of a solid financial future. I am also actively engaging with the diverse local community.”

Before coming to the farm Kevin was CEO of Walworth Garden Farm, from January 2006 to August 2014, a registered charity, community garden and social enterprise providing garden contract services and acting as a City and Guilds accredited training centre for the unemployed. He was also Master for the Guild of Public Relations Practitioners from October 2014 to October 2015, where he promoted public relations and volunteering opportunities in the charitable sectors, addressed diversity in the workplace, helped schools with promotion and marketing, and encouraged organisations to purchase goods and services from social enterprises.

Chair of the Hackney Society for 9 years, Kevin is now a trustee for the society, an organisation which supports local people in regenerating and conservation of Hackney’s environment and public spaces. He is currently a Trustee of Sheerness Historic Dockyard Preservation Trust where he is actively working to raise funds for the renovation of the Grade II listed historic dockyard church at Sheerness as well as restoring his own home in the area.

Kevin’s strategic vision for the future of Stepney City Farm will not only engage with the local community but encompasses a range of exciting new projects and plans as well. As he says, “We are exploring what activities and usage the farm can develop from the two and a half acres that will come back to the farm from the Cross Rail site. We have a large and successful set of allotments on the farm so we are looking at providing more allotment space.”

He added “Another project is to be able to create more covers for our award winning café. We are exploring the possibility of accessing the late night economy with a restaurant providing healthy local food.”

And, “We are also looking at is off-site activities given the contracts of our current site. We are already working with housing associations to provide garden space to enable their residents to grow fruit and vegetables on their doorstep with some training provided by the farm.”

Kevin’s appointment is evidently warmly appreciated by everyone at the farm as he says, “I have been welcomed with open arms by an incredibly talented, gifted, professional team of staff and volunteers.