AF is a not-for-profit organisation owned by our Members, registered under the Co-operative and Community Benefits Society Act 2014. We ‘’carry on (our) business for the benefit of the community’’.
Our Members support a wide range of charities and good causes: directly, through patronage, fundraising and donations and indirectly,by providing facilities for fund-generating activities.
By supporting any cause or charity we are using our Members’ resources. Each year we set aside a modest fund to support good causes and this is distributed by the Board in consultation with our employees.
We receive frequent requests for raffle prizes and small donations.
We get lots of requests for raffle prizes, small donations and event sponsorship.
When deciding if to donate, or support an event, we prioritise causes in which our Members are actively engaged and which focus on rural communities. If you believe your event is something that we can get behind, contact us through
By partnering with local and national charities, we aim to create a positive and lasting impact, ensuring a brighter future for rural communities across the UK.
We can’t help everyone who approaches us. To be fair and consistent we nominate several themes each year which helps us filter requests.
When considering requests for donations and support that match our themes, we prefer to support smaller, local charities whose activities improve rural communities. We also support charities in which our Members play a prominent role. We prefer to make more small donations rather than a few large ones.
We currently support charities active in the following areas:
Agricultural workers and members of the farming community
Elderly people living in rural isolation
Education and learning in rural communities.
If you would like to apply for a donation from AF, please complete this form describing what you intend to do with the money and explaining how your activities are relevant to our themes. If your cause doesn’t match these themes, it is unlikely we will be able to support you.