We hope you are all OK and bearing up

31.3.2020

This is a horrible time for everybody. We just hope that you are keeping safe, managing to cope with whatever degree of isolation is necessary for you and, if home-schooling kids is involved, able to remember what a quadratic equation is!!!

This is an incredibly tough time for everyone, and we hope you are safe and well. We're thinking of you all.

We're also thinking a lot about the youngsters who, under normal circumstances, would be spending time at the Farm. Many of them won't fully understand why that has suddenly stopped and that will give them, and their families, additional challenges to face during the weeks ahead. We're doing what we can to help, but videos and online chat will never replace the sights, sounds and smells(!) that make the Farm such a stimulating place for those young people. We're thinking of you all and, if there is anything more that we could do to help, then please let us know. The place isn't the same without you!

It's a tough time for the Farm team too. The rhythym of farming hasn't been put on hold and so we've just begun our second stint of lambing. That means long, cold nights tending the ewes and bottle feeding the weaker lambs. And the remaining livestock need just as much care during the day - they need feeding, watering and bedding down regardless of what's going on (or rather, not going on) around them.

Our Farm Shop, Butchery and Cafe team have been flat out for a fortnight - unsurprisingly the shop has been incredibly busy. We're determined to keep the shop open as long as restrictions allow so that folk can still enjoy the meat and eggs produced by the farm. We're also getting in additional supplies of fruit, vegetables and fresh bread so that we can provide more of what our customers need. With the cafe shut, the team have been commandeered into preparing ready-cooked meals and taking orders for home delivery. We're so grateful to our team of volunteer delivery drivers who are doing the rounds to make sure customers get their orders.

Whilst one or two staff are also working from home trying to raise funds to minimise the financial impact of the crisis, inevitably many of the Trust's team have been stood down for the time being; there just isn't the work for them at the Farm at the moment. We're so grateful for the Government's Job Retention Scheme - without it the future would have been incredibly bleak. We're also incredibly grateful to all of our supporters who care about the Trust and what it does - we simply couldn't manage without your help.

Take care and remember that we will get through this.

#whirlowcares