A public information guide from Hensting Alpacas

Updated 2-4-2020

We will Re-Open

This is a very testing time, and Hensting Alpacas are a business on the front line.  We have today secured borrowing with the Government / NatWest Bank and have secured our future.  With this in mind please feel free to purchase a GIFT VOUCHER for when we re open.  These vouchers are VALID for 12 Months and will be extended if needed.  We obviously can’t give a time when we open as this is in the lap of the powers that be. BUT WE WILL RE OPEN Updated 23-2-2020 This is a copy of the email that has now being sent out to all our customers : Dear All

Hensting Alpacas have now CLOSED until further notice

It is with a heavy heart we have to cancel all existing bookings and postpone all valid vouchers stamped "Ending March 2020" or later. We will honour all these bookings and vouchers, providing the business is able to reopen in the future. Our concern is that income has halted and with staff and feed costs, along with all other overheads that any business has, it may no longer be viable to continue.  Despite this interruption to business, we will consider all support from the Government and do as much as we can to continue farming.  What we will do: We will email everyone once we are permitted to reopen. At this point, we will limit the number of previous bookings per walk and merge these with new bookings.  This will allow some income to pay staff and feed animals.  This is estimated to take approximately 6 months to achieve, however everyone who has purchased a booking/voucher will have an opportunity to be booked back in. All vouchers will be extended by 18 months (providing they had not already expired prior to March 2020).  These will be merged with new bookings and we ask for your patience while we honour each of these.  All new vouchers purchased will have 12 months validity. What you can do to help: Please be patient and try not to telephone or email to query when we will re popen as this is using an extensive amount of time that we would like to be spending working on the farm.  Should you have an urgent query, please email rather than phone and allow some time for us to reply. If you would like to donate your booking money, as some already have, please email your booking name and we will gratefully remove you from the re- booking system. We are working on a donation scheme for people who are working from home, saving travel expenses and still being paid.  This scheme will be emailed and advertised on Facebook and other social media. It is suggested a supporter would donate from £1 per month to help us carry on feeding the alpacas should funds deplete. We have just set up a crowd funding page here if you wish to donate https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/hensting-alpacas In the mean time, we urge you all to keep safe and thank you for your understanding in this unprecedented time. Please direct urgent queries to derek@alpacas-hampshire.co.uk   Thank you for your custom. We look forward to seeing you again soon. Updated 22-3-2020 The last walk to took place 21-3-2020 The mothers day walk was cancelled Due to instructions from government.  Please bare with us while we take stock and work out the best way forward.  We now have 60 alpacas and 20 babies due end of May to feed and take care of with no income.  All customers please note we will not let you down if you have purchased a walk or a voucher we will honer these somehow once the restrictions have lifted.  In the mean time please stay safe First of all we, at Hensting Alpacas, would like to thank our customers, who are the centre of our micro-business. We are working hard at Hensting Alpacas and listening carefully to the Government's advice to protect our staff animals and customers from catching or spreading the coronavirus. Here are a number of things that we are doing to make our event as safe and as enjoyable as possible. We feel we are a low risk environment because: • We are out in the open for the whole event • There is no direct contact with other people • Our toilet is cleaned meticulously • There is no food or drink on site • At weekends our numbers are kept to below 45 people • During the week numbers are below 15 people However, in light of recent news we are taking every precaution necessary to keep our customers and staff safe. We therefore advise: • You remain 1 metre away from other guests at all times • You wear gloves that can be cleaned afterwards • Sneeze into the crook of your elbow • At the time of writing, we do have gel available, however, in light of supply issues, please bring your own, if you have any • Do not attend if you are showing any symptoms of a cough or a cold or have a temperature of 37.8 or above • Bring your own tissue to dry hands as we are removing the current towel from the toilet and replacing with paper towels • All pictures will be now taken on Hensting's phone and uploaded to Facebook for you all to download if you wish. This is to protect our staff from catching any germs from your phones. Please do not allow this to overshadow your visit as most of this we do already, we just wanted to reassure you all that we will take good care of you and your guests on the day, Should circumstances change, we will contact you again. Thank you for your support and understanding. Any questions, please email derek@alpacas-hampshire.co.uk