Members of Devon’s Top Attractions are all currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and there’s no date yet when they can re-open their doors for the season, but there’s still plenty going on behind the scenes and the member attractions have been active in supporting their local communities.
Before lockdown, Devon’s Top Attractions were all gearing up for a busy Easter and with plenty of Easter eggs at the ready! However, what do you do with thousands of Easter eggs and no visitors? Well, Crealy Theme Park and Resort gave away 12,000 Easter eggs to local food banks and did a competition, whilst The Donkey Sanctuary also donated their stock of 3,000 surplus eggs to local food banks too.
The Big Sheep in North Devon was quick to diversify and help in the community. They have been making hand sanitiser in their gin distillery for the NHS North Devon hospital and, for when they re-open, they have set up a home delivery service for beer from their brewery.
Clovelly Village’s response to COVID-19 included forming a ‘Care in Clovelly Community’ group and connected with their 220-strong village residents. Clovelly organised a community essential supply, collection and delivery network for the entire parish, and this has now been extended to include surrounding villages. They also have a Clovelly Response Team that has been delivering milk, groceries, fish and chips, and parcels throughout the village.
Some of Devon’s Top Attractions have also been supplying parents with learning aids and resources to help support local children learning from home. There are daily educational animal keeper sessions at Wildwood Escot which have ranged from wild boar food enrichment videos to ice cube bath-time for otters and feeding time in the red squirrel enclosure. And there is a popular weekly virtual Saturday craft session online with Seaton Jurassic, part of Devon Wildlife Trust while The Donkey Sanctuary has been providing tasty recipes ideas from their chef and they have donated spare PPE equipment to local NHS staff. They have also created a series of ‘Sanctuary from your Sofa’ broadcasts bringing the Donkey Sanctuary right into your own home.
Other attractions are offering virtual tours and history lessons linked to the curriculum and Exeter Cathedral and Buckfast Abbey are both offering live streaming of their services.
Stuart Line Cruises have run a poetry writing competition to inspire hope and positivity and they have been inundated with the number of entries. They are currently posting all the entries, one-a-day on their website. They have also been inspired to launch a discounted ‘Lockdown Loyalty Card’ unique for 2020 which is a generous gesture from them.
Chairman of Devon’s Top Attractions Dick Wood says: “We know this is a bleak time for everyone in Devon and the whole country at present, and our tourism industry is facing the worst crisis it’s ever known, but we’re not going to beaten by this virus.
“Some of our attractions are animal-based with hungry animals to feed but have no income, and others are heritage-based and costly to run, so they have had to set up ‘SOS’ survival appeals.
“During these difficult times – and even though our doors are closed just now – our members are still going the extra mile to help and, when we finally reopen, we look forward to welcoming our visitors back again.”
