World Horse Welfare Penny Farm will remain closed until 2021 due to coronavirus lockdown

World Horse Welfare Penny Farm, on Preston New Road, Peel, will not be reopening its visitor centre until February 2021 due to the coronavirus.

Zoe Clifford, who works at the farm, said: “We are really missing our visitors, many of whom we ordinarily see so regularly they feel more like family. We know that our farm and our horses have a place in people’s hearts as well as the local community, but we have to put the safety of our staff and our visitors first. We will be keeping in touch with everyone through social media, our Facebook page will post updates and let people know about virtual events we will be holding.”

“We are certainly looking forward to welcoming everyone back to the farm, and there will be celebrations when we do, but in the meantime our focus is on rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming as many horses as possible.”

The charity’s decision to close for the rest of the year affects affects all four of its rescues, which include Norfolk, Somerset, and Aberdeenshire.

They said social distancing rules would limit the number of visitors who could attend the rescue at any one time which, when taking costs into account, would make opening far less viable.

Roly Owers, World Horse Welfare chief executive, said: “We so very much want to be able to welcome everyone back, but we need to put the safety of our staff and the public first. While we love having visitors on site, without doubt this adds additional risk in terms of keeping our centres ‘COVID-secure’.”