Planning your Visit
You will have exclusive access to our farms with no other groups on-site during your visit. Each farm is organised with children and health and safety in mind, with handwashing stations and a freshly laundered set of waterproof trousers and jacket provided for each child. Our welcoming and highly-trained team of staff have decades of experience and will be on hand to ensure everyone has a brilliant experience in the great outdoors.
As a charity, we subsidise 60% of the costs for those that meet our eligibility criteria and have a limited Access Fund that can help reduce the residential costs even further for those facing particular hardship. You will need to provide your own transport and children need to bring a pair of welly boots. Residential visits are fully catered and can accommodate all dietary requirements.
To find out more about Our Farms, or to talk with us about arranging School Visits or Group Visits, please get in touch by email bookings@farmsforcitychildren.org or by phone 01392 276381
Eligibility
As a charity, residentials visits are exclusively available to beneficiaries who meet our eligibility criteria.
Our core beneficiaries are usually 8 to 14 year old children who are facing disadvantage in their every-day lives and those who do not usually have the opportunity to spend time in the countryside.
Our beneficiaries visit the farms as part of an organised group – unfortunately, we do host individual children or families.
We welcome schools, groups of children in care, young carers, and youth clubs, but would be very happy to consider other types of groups of children and young people who would benefit significantly from this unique, subsidised opportunity.
If you are unsure whether your group is eligible to join us for a farm visit, please Contact Us to talk it through.
Accompanying Adults
Every visiting group must be accompanied by suitably qualified and experienced adults who will remain in loco parentis. We ask that the same adults remain onsite for the duration of your visit for H&S reasons.
As a minimum, all groups need to bring 1 adult for every 13 children, plus at least 1 additional adult who is present throughout the visit.
All visiting adults need to be excited by the opportunity to participate in the farming sessions with the children, working closely with our farm teams to keep everyone safe.
Our farming team will lead the children’s farming sessions and accompanying adults will support and encourage the children’s engagement and will remain responsible for their behaviour and pastoral care.
Availability
Residential Visits
- We’re looking forward to welcoming you to the farms for week-long residential visits.. To find out about availability and make a booking please Contact Us
Costs
There’s always something exciting happening on the farm, and you’ll have a brilliant experience whatever time of year you visit. – Our costs are fixed throughout the year, with no variation for high/low season.
Residential Visits
- Our donors subsidise 60% of the cost of residentials for all eligible visits to ensure that no child misses out on the opportunity to enjoy a life-enhancing week of mud and magic. We ask schools/groups to contribute the balance.
- All residential visits are fully catered and there are no hidden costs – everything that you do on the farm is included in the cost you pay for the visit. You will need to provide your own transport and children need to bring a pair of welly boots.
- All visitors enjoy exclusive use of the farms and all facilities, with no other groups onsite whilst you are with us. This means that our costs for residentials are fixed, and we cannot give discounts for smaller groups sizes.
- Schools with children facing particular hardship can apply to our limited Access Fund which may be able to provide additional top-up funding. This fund is limited and can never reduce the cost to zero.
Please Contact Us for information on residential-visit costs in academic year 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Visitor Health
Regrettably, due to the health and safety realities on all working farms – particularly those with livestock – it would be unsafe for anyone who is pregnant or who has a weakened immune system to visit us. We understand this is disappointing but know you will agree that it is important to put your health first.
If you would like to talk with us about this please do get in touch.