The Night Orchard ltd

opis organizacji

The Night Orchard is a small social enterprise run by three families of five nationalities based in a Small rural village in Ireland. Taking inspiration from our individual countries best practices, we aim to become a model enterprise for rural regeneration based on local environmental responsibility, the development of economic resilience models and the empowerment of young people through non-formal learning. We operate as a workers cooperative in a family environment, practicing and promoting a homesteading and eco-centric lifestyle and believe in a whole systems approach for working and living.
We believe self-sufficiency and the development of skills required to achieve are key tools to empower and engage young people. We provide a unique opportunity for them to acquire a broad general set of skills through learning by experience and at the same time benefit from a guided immersion in intentional health and wellbeing connected with nature, with focus on the physical, emotional and spiritual dimension. We are continuously developing a non-formal education program for young adults with a variety of topics to empower their future endeavors in a more sustainable way. They will learn a broad array of skills including, how to grow their own food, the basics of shelter building, use of hand tools, medicinal herbs, bread baking, kitchen skills and the basics of how to create their own enterprise.
Our target group is the local community who access our products, services and events, existing/aspiring small entrepreneurs/growers and young adults looking for a more sustainable lifestyle. Through non formal/informal events and education activities we promote issues related to healthy lifestyle, environmental awareness, climate action, the solidarity economy and active citizenship.
Our social enterprise offers several products and services, including apple juice, free-range eggs, oyster mushrooms and a catering service aimed at the environmentally aware and those who value the use of high-quality local and seasonal products. We also offer environmental educational services to diverse groups of young people. We aim to prove the viability of these models so we can disseminate our results and promote the diversification of rural enterprise and attract more young people to rural areas.
We are constantly expanding our range of goods and services, in order to test new models and become more resilient. Our new commercial kitchen will allow us to expand and create new products. The kitchen is also a space for education and cooking demonstration classes, where people can come to learn, share knowledge, recipes and celebrate.
We are proud of our project based on the principles of solidarity economy and community resilience with a permaculture ethics such as people care, earth care and fare share. Our mission statement is to “provide a space for learning practical skills and promote a homesteading lifestyle in rural communities''