13/08/2026
Right… just to clear a few things up about the changes at Willow Tree Family Farm and why we have made them 😂
No we are not banning school visit picnics
School visits are absolutely fine because they are booked visits and they pay an entry fee. So please don’t panic, we are not going to wrestle a six-year-old to the ground over a cheese sandwich 😂
Are some people going to dislike the new rules… of course they are
You could give people a completely free day out, hand them a tenner on the way in and someone would still complain the tenner wasn’t ironed 😂
But the truth is the changes have gone amazingly well
We have taken more money
The staff have been far less stressed… thank god
There is much less rubbish being left behind for us to clean up
And our ticket numbers have actually gone up 👍
So despite Facebook making it sound like we had single-handedly cancelled summer, ruined every family day out and declared war on the ham sandwich… everything is going really well 😂
The problem was that people were starting to arrive like they were setting off for a fortnight at the beach
Trolleys full of food, giant cool boxes, full family-sized picnics, flasks of hot drinks and even their own ice lollies
I mean come on… it’s a farm park, not an all-inclusive holiday where you bring the all-inclusive bit yourself 😂
Some people had enough supplies to survive a small natural disaster. I was half expecting tents to go up and someone to start building a little patio area beside the alpacas 😂
And yes… people really were bringing flasks of hot drinks into a farm with a café that sells hot drinks
The word charity seems to confuse people sometimes
There isn’t a magical charity cloud floating above the farm dropping money into our bank account every morning
There isn’t a charity fairy feeding the animals during the night and sadly nobody from the government arrives on a Monday morning with a wheelbarrow full of cash 😂
The animals still need feeding
The staff still need paying
The electricity still needs paying
The insurance still needs paying
And every other bill still lands with perfect timing, usually when we are already having a bad day 😂
It’s the money visitors spend on food and drink that helps keep the farm going
People keep saying we should just charge entry and let everyone bring whatever they want
We could do that, but to properly cover the costs we would need to charge around £12 to £14 per person like other attractions do
Then instead of complaining that they can’t bring a picnic, people would complain that it costs £60 to get the family through the gate
Same complaint… different outfit 😂
Trust me, I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve seen trends come and go and we regularly visit other attractions for market research
Yes that is what we call it when we go out for the day and spend three hours inspecting someone else’s bins, café prices and toilet signs 😂
The places charging those entry prices simply aren’t getting the visitor numbers we get
At one point we were issuing more than 1,500 free tickets in a day
When we previously tried charging entry, visitor numbers dropped to fewer than 50 a day
We have already tried it and the numbers don’t lie… even when Facebook comments really want them to 😂
The reality is that the world has changed and everyone is feeling skint
If we charge entry, people don’t visit
If we keep entry free, hundreds of people come through the doors and we earn far more through the café
So unfortunately this is how we have had to do it and so far it is paying off
Free entry means we need people to actually spend something while they are here. We don’t expect everyone to remortgage their house for a jacket potato, but buying a drink, an ice cream or some lunch genuinely makes a difference 😂
One really useful thing we have learned from all the feedback is just how many people now have dietary requirements
We have listened and spent time sourcing new stock and changing the menu
Most items will now be gluten free and we are adding different milk choices along with dairy-free, vegan and vegetarian options
The updated menu will be online this week once we have finished checking every packet, every ingredient and every label like we are preparing evidence for a court case 😂
We have tried to keep everything affordable, but we do still have to make a profit
It doesn’t help when some suppliers have practically doubled what they charge us
Sadly we can’t buy something for £3, sell it for £2 and survive on good intentions, Facebook likes and the occasional “well done” 😂
Who knows what will happen next
Another government, another policy change and we will probably have to rethink the whole thing again
At this point I’m expecting a new rule that every alpaca needs its own passport, television licence and workplace pension 😂
If I’m completely honest, I’m sick and tired of constantly having to invent new ways for the farm to survive
It’s draining and at times it’s absolute madness
Every time we think we have cracked it, another bill comes through the door wearing a balaclava 😂
Our Christmas experience originally cost around £50,000 to set up
To put on the same experience now would cost well over £80,000
Trees, teddies, snow, toys, food and staff wages have all shot up
Even Christmas has been hit by the cost-of-living crisis. Apparently Santa now wants travel expenses and the elves have joined a union 😂
Honestly it’s getting to the point where it just isn’t worth the stress or the financial risk anymore
This year we are looking at bringing back adult Christmas party nights instead
They are cheaper to set up, less stressful to run and hopefully nobody will arrive with a flask and their own Christmas dinner
Although after what we have seen this summer, I wouldn’t rule out someone arriving with a turkey, three folding chairs and an air fryer 😂
We did have something very big planned for the six-week holidays, but unfortunately it hasn’t been delivered in time
We are now hoping it will arrive in September
Yes we know that is extremely helpful for a summer event… it’s like your swimming costume arriving in December 😂
If it does arrive in September, we can still make use of it and then create a much bigger summer event around it next year
We are battling rising costs on every front including wages, food, energy and insurance
Electricity and insurance alone are now costing us around £4,000 every single month
That’s before we feed a single animal, pay a member of staff or replace whatever the goats have decided to destroy that week 😂
Because obviously running a charity, caring for animals, managing staff, serving visitors and fighting rising costs wasn’t quite enough to keep us busy 😂
So yes we have to act
We have to try new things and make changes
Not everyone will like every decision we make, but doing nothing isn’t an option
Hopefully people understand that these decisions aren’t being made to upset anyone
They are being made to give Willow Tree Family Farm the best possible chance of still being here in the future
And judging by how well the changes have gone so far… we might actually know what we’re doing after all 😂
