Supporters will help farm through second shutdown
DONATIONS HAVE HELPED TO EASE FINANCIAL PRESSURES
THE manager of a popular Nottinghamshire farm says staff are not as fearful for its future going into the second national lockdown.
White Post Farm, near Mansfield, spoke out in April when the Government brought in the first Covid-19 lockdown, with staff fearing it might have to close for good.
Financial pressures when footfall disappeared sparked concerns over feeding the hundreds of animals on site.
Staff even set up a fundraising page to generate £5,000 - enough for a month’s worth of food - in the hope of generating enough funds to keep animals “fed and watered”.
However, thanks to the fundraising campaign supported by the Post, the farm managed to raise more than £20,000 in a matter of days and protected its future for the long-term.
It also allowed the popular site to reopen as planned in
July and continue operating throughout the summer under new Covidsecure measures.
But following an announcement from Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the nation will be going back into lockdown on Thursday, the farm is again set to close its doors today.
However, this isn’t as much of a concern for its staff and for operations manager Anthony Moore, who says the new lockdown “won’t have the same devastating impact” on the Farnsfield site.
He told the Post: “The financial impact is very different this time because of the amazing support from the original article and then support from customers.
“The way we have managed our social media page and interacted with customers has really helped, and we still have people donating to us now.
“Of course we are closing our doors and we aren’t going to have the customers coming in, but it won’t have the same devastating impact as last time. “Things do change and if it gets extended by a few more weeks until Christmas we may be in trouble, but November isn’t generally a busy time for us.
“It’s not a make or break month, whereas in April with the first lockdown we take 25 percent of our annual footfall through Easter and that was lost last time around.” When the farm reopened its doors in July, staff set up a new one-way system allowing customers to experience all of the 25-acre site while also sticking to social distancing. Operations manager Mr Moore also continued running regular Facebook Live videos from inside the farm each day to keep customers updated on the welfare of the animals. And speaking on the eve of its second closure this year, Mr Moore says the farm “feels safe” and that they owe it “to all the people who got us through the last lockdown”. “The farm feels safe, but that doesn’t mean for any reason that it is thriving,” he said. “We’ve spent thousands of pounds to make sure we are doing the right thing, and we capped capacity at 600.
“The saddest part about closing now is that we’re missing lambing season again. Lambing is usually in April and November so we’ve missed both seasons for customers.
“Everyone has been saying we should continue doing Facebook Live videos and we will - we know people want it and we’ve been getting amazing support and interaction through these.
“We owe it to all the people who got us through the last lockdown, it’s just such a nice feeling going into this lockdown without the worry or stress of the financial problems.”
The farm announced on its website and Facebook page that it will be closing again for 28 days from today.
We owe it to all the people who got us through the last lockdown. Anthony Moore