The Children's Adventure Farm Trust

What it’s like

A free two-hour farm visit for children with additional needs and their families, animals, woodland and a sports hall included.

This isn't a farm you just turn up to. It's for children aged up to 17 whose lives are affected by physical, learning, emotional or social needs, including life limiting illness, wheelchair users or those with mobility issues, and the visit brings siblings along too. Once you're booked in, the two hours cover alpacas, sheep, dinky donkeys, pygmy goats, ducks and a pig, plus a play park built with accessibility in mind, a wheelchair accessible roundabout and a zip wire.

Beyond the animals there's a decent stretch of woodland to explore, a mud kitchen, a digging area, a climbing spot and a campfire for marshmallow toasting. There's an indoor side too, a sports hall with a bouncy castle slide, table tennis, a pool table and a bouldering wall, useful if the weather turns. An art room and a sensory room give you somewhere quieter to retreat to if two hours of outdoor stimulation is enough for one child.

Booking works through a form on their site rather than a phone call or a ticket link, and it's one car per family, so this isn't somewhere you can bring the extended clan. Refreshments are just tea, coffee and biscuits in the Brew Shed, so bring a packed lunch or a picnic if you want a proper feed, and note alcohol isn't allowed on site.

Everything here is free, which is worth sitting with for a second given it costs the charity over a million pounds a year to run with no statutory funding, so a donation on the way out feels like the right thing to do. If you want more than a day visit, family residentials exist too, but they're in very high demand and can't be guaranteed, so the site suggests trying a day visit first before applying for one.

Facilities

Need to know

Best for

For children up to 17 with additional needs, siblings welcome too

Food

Tea, coffee and biscuits available in the Brew Shed

Picnics

Allowed on site. Bring your own or use the Brew Shed for refreshments

• This is an eligibility based visit, not a general leisure day out
• Bookings are capped at one car per family
• Family residential stays are in very high demand and can't be guaranteed
• No alcohol allowed on site
• First-timers are steered towards a day visit before applying for a residential

Plan your visit

Featured in 3 Huddlepin lists

See all Farms & Petting Farms in Manchester · Things to do in Manchester