A children's farm with links to Birmingham鈥檚 famous Cadbury family is facing the axe in council cuts.
The Mount Pleasant School Farm, near Kings Norton, has provided more than 400,000 city pupils with a taste of the countryside for the last 40 years.
But it is at risk as part of proposed cuts to Birmingham Council鈥檚 outdoor learning service, which funds the farm鈥檚 full-time teacher. Now the Cadbury-founded Worgan Trust, which built and funded Mount Pleasant鈥檚 current base, has urged the authority to save the venue.
Trustee Julian Salmon said: 鈥淚n an ideal world the Mount Pleasant offering should be part of every child鈥檚 education. The experience afforded to children who visit the farm is not of the 鈥榓dventure day-out鈥 variety.
鈥淚t is carefully designed to complement the National Curriculum and enhance the children鈥檚 learning and understanding of agricultural and environmental issues.
鈥淲hile we appreciate the council鈥檚 financial constraints, the Trust does not have the funds to replace the teacher on an on-going basis. It therefore puts in jeopardy the future of an educational facility which has been enjoyed by and benefited more than 400,000 children.鈥
The farm was originally located at Chapman鈥檚 Hill Farm, in Romsley, before it moved to a purpose-built facility at Mount Pleasant in 2008.
Deputy headteacher Mark Benton, of Four Oaks Primary School in Sutton Coldfield, has been taking pupils to the farm for several years.
He said: 鈥淚t gives the children invaluable hands-on experience. The classroom and facilities are brilliant, and the farm鈥檚 teacher is an expert. The children and staff come away really inspired.鈥
A council spokesman said the authority was considering responses to its budget consultation, which ended earlier this month. He said final proposals would be issued next month before the council鈥檚 budget meeting was held on March 4.
