Stonehurst Farm — Attraction in Charnwood

Visited this farm last week with my friend (& 6 children between us) & cannot believe how her little 3 year old boy was treated by one of the members of staff (Jen). My friend & I were waiting in line for the pony ride, it was our turn and her little boy excitedly asked if he could wear the blue helmet!! She replied “you get what your given mate”.. I can’t believe anyone who would work in a farm would speak to a little boy like this. My friends son was told he has to wear the pink hat, as the blue one wouldn’t fit, she didn’t offer to even try the helmet & said she couldn’t allow it for health & safety. We happily agreed & he went on his pony ride. I was next in line & told the lady I didn’t have any change, & was wondering if I could pay at the tills in the cafe (as I have done 4/5 times before) she replied “well you better go quick then”. I explained that i’d never had an issue before & that I would pay immediately after my daughter’s ride as i’d miss out on taking pics etc. She proceeded to say “well you better hurry”. My friend & I were baffled as to why she was being so difficult but agreed to whatever she said. My second daughter then went around on the pony with her helmet covering her eyes. She kept lifting this up by hand as it kept falling and I said oops your helmet is too big! Jen interrupted & said “it’s because of her hair not the hat, it’s the way you’ve done her hair”. There was nothing wrong with my daughter’s hair, the helmet just didn’t fit and nor did she try to give her any alternative. Health & safety was no issue or concern at this point. My friend sensed that the lady was being difficult with us as we are clearly south asian. She waited as the same lady then served her next customer who was a little blonde haired boy. “Which helmet would you like” she said to him and at this point we were gobsmacked. I went away into the henhouse & walked back out to my friend who told me the blonde haired boy, (who was visibly younger/smaller than our little boy), was in fact wearing the same helmet. How dare you ask another child what colour helmet they would like but tell our 2 year old you get what your given mate and force him to wear pink? The fact that the helmet colours can be changed so easily by removing the fabric was the most shocking part of all of this. Surely if you weren’t trying to be difficult or racist you would just change the colour. At this point my friend approached the lady & asked her why she was so kind to this other family but so rude to us. Why was our child treated differently because he has dark brown hair & has brown skin. I’ve never ever experienced anything like this & couldn’t believe it until we saw how she treated the family after us. We know exactly why we were treated this way & that’s because Jen is RACIST & treats children differently because of their hair/skin colour. A manager approached us & we explained what happened, how it made us feel but she didn’t really care & just said for health and safety our little boy wasn’t allowed to wear the helmet. No remorse, care or concern for how we might have felt after her staff had spoken to us this way. NO you do not care about health and safety. All the manager had to say was i’m sorry, take accountability but all she said was i’m sorry you feel this way (repeatedly). We were made to feel like this by a member of your staff, at the farm we have decided to spend our money to have a nice time. Jen, has also received a complaint regarding racism via Google reviews a year ago, you have decided to keep her employed despite allegations. If this is the kind of circus you run, me or anyone I know will never step foot here again. All who are of colour, please avoid, you aren’t welcome here & as long as this lady is working here she will treat your children with disgust just because she can’t handle the shade of your skin. Absolute disgusting scum, good luck for supporting racism. Don’t ever think you can treat children or people differently again because of their skin colour and work at a...

There is no denying that this is one unique farm and overall a superb day out. My only criticism would be the organisation of the birthday party. I confirmed details a handful of times, both verbally and via email. I was therefore taken aback and wasn't prepared for the party handler to ask for all of my order information again, at the same time as the arrival of party guests. Adult platters, cake information and child food and dietary requirements were being demanded from me at the same time as she was organising the children for the party. Maybe the farm could've requested that I arrive some time before so that I could've enjoyed the meet and greet. I expected to be 100% present on the day, it was my reason for paying for a party and organising well in advance, rather than hosting at home. But instead I was consumed with the chaos that included all of the above, and such things like dietary requirements not being met because pre ordered dairy free food had ran out. The medium cake I was originally going to order only provides 16 slices, I therefore opted for their largest cake, which I wasn't allowed to cut, only the kitchen staff were. The kitchen staff cut the large cake in to 16 (huge) slices for the child party boxes; I was hoping for at least an extra slice for me. I wasn't offered or asked if I wanted to carry the cake to my child as we all sang happy birthday - a mother's/parents job in my opinion, but it all happened too quickly to stop the party handler doing it. Only 4 petting animals available for 16 children resulted in delays as well as unsettled small and special needs children, this also limited the time we had in other areas of the "plans". Maybe something as simple as signs noting "reserved for party 2pm-2:15pm", could've helped, especially as the adults (not party handler/farm staff) had to ask people politely to move - which included a mother with an autistic child. Who came to me after and said when her situation became difficult - if there had been a sign, she would've chosen a different place to sit. There was a lot of advanced planning, and the final bill was high. I have no problem with the price, had it have even closely matched the service. I'm writing all of this, not to say I wouldn't organise another party here again, but rather in the hope that it helps someone prior to and during their special day/party. I think some better organisation, communication, training and extra staff would go a long way to fixing the farms obvious difficulties. 3 stars based purely on this...

Awful experience. We have never been to a farm before, just because it’s never appealed to us and don’t always agree with them. I was meeting my sister and nephew as I don’t get to see her much as she lives 3 hours away so we met there which was her choice. Upon arrival there was just a gate so we went through it.

One very rude lady came over and asked where my sticker was to which I replied I don’t have a sticker, she said well you need to pay in order to get a sticker, I said oh right I didn’t realise, it wasn’t very clear where you come in (no kiosk or anything or anyone there to say!) she was very rude and said something along the lines of well nothing is free now days is it!? She was very patronising rude and sarcastic, she was talking to me like a child and I am 32 years old. Can I just say some places are free yes.

Can I add it is also free to be kind and being a business owner myself wouldn’t dare speak so rudely to anyone, especially my clients.

When we did go to pay straight away, there was a very sweet young girl that was very helpful and had great costumer service.

The baby cows were also away from their mother which I think is very cruel.

In my opinion It’s all just a profitable business in which the animals are being exploited for human fun and pleasure. Donkey rides, rabbit holding etc, shouldn’t be allowed if they are thinking of the animals.

Will be telling all my mum friends at mum groups not to bother. Can I just mention it was around £30 for me, my partner and my 3 year old just for entry, not including animal food or anything else.

Will not be returning...