We are pleased to announce that we will be opening to the public at weekends. Our intention is to continue with weekend opening for the public over the summer. Households can book a half hour audio guided walk around the farm to catch up with the animals and view the garden.
Given the current good news that the rate of infection in London appears to be coming down and following the most recent updates to guidance to the public and to business, we are thinking about how we can enable people to access the farm safely and beginning to open up services again.
We are doing this in a staged way, within the measures to limit the spread of Covid-19, initially with extremely limited numbers of people being on the farm at any one time. Our regular volunteers are starting to return to the farm in small groups and for short sessions and we are working with partner organisations to enable local people with specific needs which the farm can meet to have some access. We are also now able to open on a limited basis for members of our local community which, in the first instance, is on a booked basis for individual households. For each of these groups of people and stages of opening there are many practical considerations that the farm needs to address to ensure everyone's safety, such as necessary PPE, use of shared equipment and spaces, break and rest facilities for staff and volunteers, people's individual vulnerabilities and the availability of staff to deliver support and services, with a significantly reduced income.
Therefore at the moment the farm remains closed to the public during the week with a reduced staff team to feed the animals, care for the garden and support volunteers and vulnerable people to access and engage with the farm. The intention is that at the weekend the farm will open to enable people in our local community to visit on a booked basis. To facilitate as many people as possible to visit the farm in a socially distanced manner, we are asking households to book and follow an audio guided walk around the farm lasting half an hour and to share out the limited slots available.
Thank you so much to everyone for all their support at this difficult time. We have been so grateful for the donations, messages of support and plant shop enthusiasm. And even more thanks in advance for your patience, understanding and community spirit as we start to open up - we will need it perhaps more than ever.
Other news
Remember Joel's photos in the last edition of the newsletter? Help Joel the photographer build his project into a fundraiser for the Farm. He is gathering some information about the Farm from everyone who enjoys the space to put together with his pictures in a printed record. Complete his survey here