Mixed Care Farm - 600 visitors

We start­ed Open Farm Sun­day in 2014 but took a break due to COVID-19 and then did our first one again in 2023 with 600 visitors.

Like most farms, we are not open to the pub­lic all year round. We have a farm shop, but the rest of the farm is closed off from the pub­lic. Open Farm Sun­day allows us to open to the pub­lic in a con­trolled way, show­ing them what we do and allow­ing them to explore and learn, both about farm­ing and the world of learn­ing dis­abil­i­ties, all while hav­ing fun. We are hid­den from view, set between a house and a motor­way, and every year we have peo­ple say­ing they nev­er knew this was here.

Peo­ple are gen­uine­ly inter­est­ed in farm­ing and are keen for their chil­dren to con­nect with nature and where their food comes from. Agri­cul­ture as an indus­try can seem very closed and com­pli­cat­ed to under­stand for the pub­lic, and often, the pub­lic only sees it in the news when some­thing goes wrong or there has been a con­tro­ver­sy. Open Farm Sun­day allows farm­ers to share their work, land, and com­mu­ni­ty, bust some of the myths and cre­ate last­ing change in atti­tudes and beliefs. For care farms, it also gives those of us who are not pub­licly fac­ing to show­case the work of the peo­ple we support.

Our favourite moment is the num­ber of peo­ple say­ing they had no idea we did so much here. See­ing our site and our work through fresh eyes always leaves me incred­i­bly proud of what we do here.

When it comes to the day itself, we open up our gates and allow peo­ple to explore, using lots of down­load­able LEAF sig­nage to cre­ate trails. We have food and music, crafts and play activ­i­ties, meet the ani­mals ses­sions and guid­ed tours. Sit­ting in the trac­tor for a pho­to oppor­tu­ni­ty is also always very popular!

Over time, as we have become more con­fi­dent with the event, we have changed the times from our first event, which was 11am – 2pm, to now being 11am-4pm. We have a load of people/​organisations who are involved with the event. For exam­ple, we have peo­ple we sup­port, some of our sup­port­ed employ­ees come to help out, and local ecol­o­gists, local PCSOs, and oth­er parts of our par­ent com­pa­ny get stuck in and involved. 

If you have nev­er opened your gates for Open Farm Sun­day, do it! There is no set for­mat you need to fol­low; you are in con­trol of your event. Work­ing in farm­ing can be iso­lat­ing but our nation­al open day bring farm­ers and com­mu­ni­ties togeth­er, which is an excel­lent boost for us and the industry.

Top Tips! – Use the LEAF web­site; there are plen­ty of resources on there, includ­ing webi­na­rs and Zoom meet­ings in which you will have the chance to inter­act and talk with like mind­ed peo­ple who open their gates on Open Farm Sunday.

Keen to take part and host an event this year? Reg­is­ter your event here.

Ques­tions? Con­tact the Open Farm Sun­day team: [email protected] or phone 07912 463151