A popular family attraction in Dumfries has been given a financial lifeline of £62,000.
When the pandemic hit, Dalscone Farm Fun and Soft Play Centre saw its visitor numbers – normally between 500 and 800 a day– disappear.
In addition to staff wages and overheads, the farm also had to cover the costs of looking after animals on the site with 100 kid goats and 50 lambs born earlier in the year.
A pop-up farm shop was created to try and ease the financial burden and while it was successful and will remain, it wasn’t enough.
The farm park is a seasonal business and will close for the winter period, so with their main source of income in the soft play area still forced to close, there will be no income at all from that side of the business.
Farm bosses approached South of Scotland Enterprise who were able to provide a vital grant to help them through the Covid-19 crisis.
Manager Ben Best said: “Dalscone is a family-run business in Dumfries and the grant will make a huge difference to us.
“It will help secure jobs and avoid us making further redundancies. As the soft play area remains closed for the foreseeable future and with no income coming in, the grant will help us carry out the necessary maintenance to prepare for the when the farm park reopens for the new season in March 2021.
“The future for Dalscone now looks a bit more secure than it did before, and for that we are grateful for all those who provided us with the critical help and advice at such an uncertain time.”
Centres similar to Dalscone have been unable to reopen in Scotland since March but they have done so south of the border.
Professor Russel Griggs, chairman of South of Scotland Enterprise, said: “We are delighted we have been able to make this award to Dalscone Farm and help them retain current jobs, and support future local job creation.
“We understand this has been a hugely challenging time for many small and medium-sized businesses across the South of Scotland, and our immediate focus is on supporting businesses, communities, and individuals to recover from the wide-ranging impacts of the pandemic.
We will continue to support Dalscone and other businesses in the South to reopen safely and welcome visitors back to the region once again.”
