Fears for future of Shirebrook farm as coronavirus keeps visitors away

Adam Hind, 29, one of the trustees, says the farm has seen a sharp decline in visitor numbers since the storms put people off earlier in the year.

In light of previous government advice to social distance, the farm saw further reduction in visitors, and has been closed to the public since Sunday (March 22).

The farm is funded by donations, its community cafe, entry fee and education services, and now farm staff are now worried about finding the money to feed the animals.

Some of the animals have recently given birth or are pregnant, meaning the farm is getting through double the feed they usually need.

Adam Hind said: “We’ve been struggling since the storms ruined February half term. We usually have enough income from that to keep going until Easter.

“We’ve had no real income since Christmas and have had to rely on reserve cash.

“We saw this coming and re-homed some of our goats, chicken and ducks.

“The animals we have now either can’t be re-homed, or have health conditions which means they need to stay.

“We have baby alpacas and reindeer in calf, as well as eggs in incubators.

“In the worst case scenario, we would have to consider euthanising some of the animals, which we don’t even want to think about.

“However, we wouldn’t want then to suffer.”

The farm’s staff and trustees have set up a JustGiving page, so people can donate, and will update donors on their website where the money is being spent.

Adam added: “The last two months have been rough, and we were just setting back up after the storms.

“Our staff have taken the difficult decision to reduce their hours. If push comes to shove, just the four trustees will have to run the farm.

“We have shut off our electricity as much as possible, and have given away the food in our freezers to vulnerable families.

“There’s only so much we can do.”

You can also donate through the farm’s Amazon wishlist