New ambassadors have been announced by the organisers of LEAF Open Farm Sunday to help farmers get ready for the event.

Rona Amiss has been appointed to help farmers across the south west as they prepare to open their farms to the public on June 27.

Rona is a first generation, tenanted farmer on the most southerly point of mainland UK and operates her own farm diversification.

Ambassadors will share ideas to engage visitors and give practical information on how to implement safe and fun social distancing.

This year the event is putting a strong focus on hosting small, socially distanced farm walks and talks to provide an intimate insight to what happens on farm.

Annabel Shackleton, LEAF Open Farm Sunday manager, said: “This year we are seeing more people spending time in the great outdoors and cooking from scratch, and there is a genuine interest across society to learn about where food comes from, the work farmers do and how the countryside is managed.

“With staycations and trips to the countryside increasing, we anticipate there will be more people than ever wanting to visit a farm this summer, and we want to encourage as many farmers as possible to get involved with the confidence they can manage their events safely.

“In order to support farmers, we felt it was important to establish a strong network of ambassadors who have knowledge and experience in on-farm events and LEAF Open Farm Sunday. We are very excited to welcome five new ambassadors, and welcome back three former co-ordinators, forming a strong network to support anyone considering taking part.”

In addition to being on hand to speak one-to-one with farmers, co-ordinating regional groups and presenting at events, ambassadors are recording a series of short videos to help with the planning of a LEAF Open Farm Sunday event.

Topics covered include how to create a hand-washing station, using a ticketing system to manage the number and flow of visitors through to communications support and creative activity ideas.

These will be available on the LEAF website alongside a range of other free resources.

The ambassadors will be hosting three online farmer meetings open to anyone interested in taking part in Open Farm Sunday, or any experienced hosts looking for new ideas.

During the short one-hour zoom call, there will be an opportunity to meet some of the new ambassadors, listen to their top tips, answer questions, shares ideas and speak to hosts.

The “LEAF Open Farm Sunday Top Tip” sessions will take place on:

• Monday, May 10 19:30 - 20:30

• Wednesday, May 12 12:30 - 13:30

• Friday, May 14 08:00 - 09:00

To find out more about the event, visit farmsunday.org.

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