Re-opening FAQ’s

No. Due to limits on the number of visitors we can have on site, all Members and Non Members and must have booked an online ticket.

If you haven’t booked an online ticket, unfortunately you can’t visit.

We are checking all bookings against our membership database and with membership cards at admissions.

Thank you for your understanding at this time.

Yes. Please book your tickets online here

No. To comply with Government regulations and to achieve social distancing we need to manage the number of visitors we have on site and we therefore only have a limited number of tickets available each day that must be pre-booked. We cannot allow entrance to any guests who arrive without a pre-booked ticket.

To comply with Government regulations, we need to manage how many visitors we have on site to ensure everyone has a safe visit. To achieve this, we need our Members to pre-book a ticket online. This is a temporary measure and we hope in time that we will be able to remove this requirement.

Pre-book tickets will be available 7 days in advance via our website.

We will ensure that you still get the same value from your Willows Annual Membership. For all annual memberships that were active at our first date of closure (21st March) we will extend your expiry date for the time we were closed PLUS the time during which we are having to ask Members to book tickets and pay the booking fee.

Membership expiry date extensions will happen automatically, and you don’t have to do anything about it.

We will not take the Direct Debit for your membership while Members are having to book and pay a booking fee for a ticket. We will advise Members when we are able to increase the capacity we have on site and so can change this requirement. We will also inform you in good time when we will start collecting Direct Debits again.

To comply with Government regulations, we have to operate with a vastly reduced number of visitors. To be able to implement this we had to introduce a booking system.

From our re-opening you can only buy an annual membership and we will extend the expiry date by the time we are asking Members to book a ticket online.

Due to social distancing restrictions there are some areas and activities that are not currently available. These include our indoor play areas and meet and greets.

However, we have all our animal barns, outdoor animal adventures, The agility play trail, Mr Tod’s Den, Sand & Water play, fun fair rides, inflatables and trampolines, Tristan the Runaway Tractor, JCBs, animal shows and Peter Rabbits Playground.

Yes. With guidance on using to achieve social distancing and reminders regarding handwashing.

There are restrictions on how and the type of refreshments we can sell. We are offering a reduced selection of snacks and drinks from Mr Tod’s catering unit.

Please note all transactions at our catering outlets will be cashless.

The safety of our visitors has been at the centre of our planning for re-opening:

• You will find 40 hand sanitiser units around the farm park, located at each activity and area
• Our handwashing facilities remain the number one defence against infection and visitors should always handwash after contact with any animals, visiting animal areas and before eating or drinking
• We’ve introduced separate entry and exit routes to some activities to help with social distancing
• Where customer will have to queue, social distance markings are presented
• Our staff sign a health declaration before each shift they work and have their temperature checked
• PPE is provided to our staff
• We have developed a new Covid Secure risk assessment which is available on our website
• We have developed and retrained all our staff in our Covid Secure Standing Operating Procedures
• Sneeze screens are used in our catering outlets
• We are now cashless

All visitors must wear a mask or covering when visiting the gift shop or take away café in line with government guidelines. There is no requirement for our visitors to wear a mask on the farm.

All staff have been re-trained as part of our Covid Secure back to work programme. Every member of staff has to sign a health declaration each time they attend for work and have their temperature checked.

Our staff now work on a rota system so that our office staff can remain socially distanced.

Hand sanitising units are available in all staff areas

The office has a separate entry and exit

A new staff rest area has been created with a new separate entry and exit and space to remain socially distanced during their rest periods

Our uniform policy ensures that uniforms are clean for each working day.

We support any member of staff who is required to shield for medical reasons and provide additional PPE if required for specific members of staff.

Our full Covid-19 risk assessment can be found here.

What hasn’t changed is the warm and friendly welcome that every visitor receives. With little one’s part of our visitor groups we’ll work hard to keep a visit to Willows as ‘normal’ and enjoyable as possible.

Some changes that you may need to help your little ones with are:

• Helping them with hand sanitising, before and after each activity they take part in
• There may be some queueing which they wouldn’t have had before – our staff will help to keep the children entertained
• Our indoor play areas will be closed due to ongoing restrictions– but there is plenty to do outside!
• We have a restricted menu from our outdoor catering unit
• We are now cashless and only accept contactless methods of payment on site
• Peter and his friends have to stay in lockdown a little longer as we are unable to do meet and greets (but he has plenty of radishes to keep him going and has been doing all he schoolwork at home, looked over by Mrs. Rabbit!)