About us
We started on a field.
Shirleys Field Community is a technology company that grew out of a working community farm. We build AI software and provide technology services for the community farms, gardens, charities and social enterprises we know best.
Our story
From muddy boots to machine learning.
Running Shirleys Field Community Farm means juggling crops and animals, volunteers and participants with very different needs, a café, school visits, veg bags and a constant stream of funding reports.
The software available didn’t fit. Commercial farm tools assumed hectares and tractors. Charity databases assumed office staff and desks. Nothing understood a Tuesday morning where a team of volunteers, a support worker and a new participant all need the right job, in the right bed, before the rain comes.
So we started building our own, combining modern cloud software with practical AI and testing it on the farm every week. As other community growing projects began asking for the same tools, Shirleys Field Community was formed to build them properly, and to make them available to every organisation that grows food, skills and connection.
Our mission
Give every community growing project the intelligent tools it deserves.
We believe the organisations doing the most good on the ground should have technology as good as anyone’s, designed around their people, priced for their budgets and built responsibly.
What we value
How we work.
Rooted
We build where we grow. Every product decision is tested against real days on a real farm.
Inclusive
We design for everyone who walks through the gate, whatever their abilities, background or confidence with technology.
Responsible
We use AI where it genuinely helps, keep people in control and protect the data we’re trusted with.
Practical
Useful beats impressive. We measure success in hours saved and people supported, not features shipped.
What we do
A product company and a services team.
We build and run Seedbed, our AI-powered platform for community growing, and offer technology services: AI discovery, custom solutions, data and cloud foundations, training and managed support.
Where to find us
We’re based at Layer Breton, near Tiptree, Colchester, in Essex, and work with organisations across the UK.
- olly@shirleysfieldcommunityfarm.com
- +44 7448 070546
- Layer Breton, near Tiptree, Colchester, Essex
Let’s grow something together.
Whether you’re a community farm, a funder or a potential partner, we’d love to talk.