Launch of Online Training Designed Specifically for Rural Businesses

PR and Marketing agency Scene & Herd Ltd, has today launched a brand-new initiative, the OnFARM Academy, offering online training specifically designed and curated for rural and food and drink-related businesses.

Born out of a recognition that not all in-person training is geographically accessible, that not all businesses and organisations can afford personalised bespoke training and that much current online training is not tailored towards rural business, the OnFARM (which stands for Food, Agriculture and Rural Matters) Academy is designed by rural business, for rural business.

Anna Davies, Director of Scene & Herd, said:

“The COVID 19 crisis has resulted in a significant increase in online learning by adults. Much of the training that had started as face-to-face in classroom environments was pursued online and newer training has commenced online. However, so much online training, notably within the field of communications, is too generic. The OnFARM Academy is all about creating short training courses that focus specifically on RURAL and FOOD and DRINK businesses.

“Over recent months and years, the Scene & Herd team has been privileged to deliver online training for organisations such as Scottish Land and Estates, The Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs, SAOS, Opportunity North East and more. We have now turned our attention to making the expertise that we share more accessible to all. We are excited to share our knowledge, and that of other experts within the sector, and watch rural business people upskill from the comfort of their own desks, lessening the time they have to spend away from the office and also reducing their carbon footprint by reducing the requirement to travel for training.

“By delivering bespoke services, producing our OnFARM podcast and now creating the OnFARM Academy, Scene & Herd PR and Marketing is excited to work towards the desire of seeing a Scotland full of rural enterprises which are seen, heard, respected and thriving. We ourselves thrive on using our range of skills to help rural businesses of all types achieve their own version of this powerful goal.”


Run online, on a tailored delivery platform, the OnFARM Academy will commence with a series of communications-related short training courses/workshops, specifically tailored to those who own or work in, rural businesses. Launching with a small suite of courses, growing quickly over forthcoming weeks, months and years, the OnFARM Academy will build up a bank of many dozen courses covering all aspects of communications and beyond, soon growing to include HR and people management, business management and much more.

Initial courses include both Facebook and Instagram for beginners, Working with Instagram Influencers and Using Storytelling to Improve your PR. In the pipeline are courses on how to conduct staff appraisals, mental health first aid and more - each conducted by recognised experts from within their field.

Paid for courses start from only £35 plus VAT and some courses on the platform will be free of charge.

The OnFARM Academy training can be accessed at: https://training.onfarmacademy.com/

Interested parties can also sign up for email updates at: http://eepurl.com/hhbzZf

The OnFARM Academy will be partnering with a number of rural and food-related organisations to offer unique discounts and to create new content. If you think your organisation could benefit from working alongside the Academy, either by signing your members up for a discount or by using your expertise to help generate training content, please email: anna@sceneandherdpr.co.uk There is scope for partner organisations to receive a financial ‘kick back’ when they successfully refer people to the training platform.

Those who download any of the training courses before midnight on Sunday 6th February can use code EARLY20 to secure a 20 per cent discount.

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