Visiting and booking

Most of our activities last for two hours. These normally run from 10am-12 noon or 1pm-3pm, but these times are flexible to allow for groups’ arrival or departure times. We do adjust times and length of workshop to suit groups with special educational needs and disabilities, most of these last around 1.5hrs.

Visitors are requested to come suitably dressed for the occasion and season. Long trousers are advised at all times of the year due to the risk of ticks in the park, and in wet weather, wellies and waterproof clothing are recommended. The session will go ahead in all weather unless there is thunder and lightning or high winds. If this is the case, the Centre will contact you. In cases of extremely wet weather, some of the activities may be able to be moved indoors where possible.

Groups are welcome to bring a packed lunch to have before or after their workshop in our indoor classroom and picnic garden. Please check availability with us when booking. Please note that there is no café or shop on site, so you will need to bring all food and drinks with you. We ask that you please take all rubbish back with you.

To ensure that everyone has a safe and enjoyable visit we ask that all groups read, share and abide by the following code of conduct:

• Please ensure you have an appropriate ratio of adults to pupils to supervise your group. We recommend 1:5/6 for primary school children, and an appropriate number of carers for groups with disabilities. Please note that we will often split into smaller groups to enable the children to have a hands on experience, do ensure you have enough adults with the group to allow for this.
• Teachers and adult helpers are responsible for supervising their group at all times.
• Visitors should listen to and comply with any requests and instructions given by the Centre’s volunteers and staff.
• Visitors should be encouraged to use our hands-on artefacts and equipment carefully.  Teachers and parent helpers must intervene if they see a pupil using an object in a dangerous or destructive manner.  Please report any damage to a member of staff or volunteer.
• For their own safety, visitors should not walk around the Holly Lodge yard unless accompanied by a member of staff or volunteer, or run anywhere on site (except during a break time on the picnic lawn).
• Leave any spaces you are using as you would wish to find them, by collecting up any picnic litter and waste food.

Coaches and minibuses require permits to enter the park. When you send back your booking form, you will receive a pack containing your minibus/coach permit. On the day of the trip please bring both your bus permit and a copy of your booking form with you. Please note, double-decker busses are not permitted entry to Richmond Park at any time.

There is a free car park on site which minibuses and coaches are welcome to park in for the duration of their visit. Please inform us if anyone on your group is travelling separately by car and would like to use the car park. All visitors using the car park must display a Royal Parks parking permit. This will be included in your information package when you confirm your booking.

Richmond Park is a National Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.  It has abundant and diverse ecology and wildlife.  The Centre strives to protect and conserve this, so if you have an activity in the Park or are walking through it to visit the Centre, please “Tread Lightly” by:

• Not leaving litter in the park as this can kill deer and birds if they eat it
• Not removing chestnuts (an important winter feed for the deer) or any flora and/or fungi (many of the wildflowers and fungi are rare) as they are important for the biodiversity of the Park.
• Not disturbing fallen and dead wood as this will damage the habitat of beetles and other insects that live in it.
• Keeping away from deer as they are wild animals; the females are particularly dangerous during spring (birthing time) and the males in autumn (rutting time) when they are fighting.

To find out more about this, see a message from Sir David Attenborough and download a leaflet click here

Risk assessments have been carried out for all our activities. Details of the health and safety advice for visitors are included in the information package you receive upon confirmation of your visit.

Visiting groups should have conducted their own risk assessments. We welcome teachers or group leaders for pre-visit tours.

Once our personnel have met you they will give an introductory talk that will include instructions about Health and Safety. They will lead the activity in such a way as to minimise the risk of any accidents, and it is important that young people and adults in your group listen to and follow the instructions given by our personnel at the start of each activity.

We would advise all members of a visiting group to wash their hands after a visit to the Centre, especially if they have been outdoors and are going to eat any food. Hand washing facilities are available.

The Holly Lodge Centre and the Royal Parks welcome visitors to Holly Lodge, but would like to remind all visitors that it is a working environment, used by Park management, police and contractors and as such there are certain rules which should be adhered to for their own health and safety.

• The Holly Lodge Centre is a closed site and is not accessible to the public.
• Please do not enter the yard without a member of staff or a volunteer from the Holly Lodge Centre.
• Please bring a list of all people in the visiting group and remember that Richmond Park is open to the public.
• Please inform us if you are planning to take your class out into the park before or after their workshop.
• There are potential hazards in the yard from vehicles, machinery and horses, and in the Park from dogs, deer (which should not be fed or petted) and other wildlife.

Children or adults in the care of others are not be allowed to roam around the yard unless directed by the Centre’s staff or volunteers. Groups have to be accompanied by a member of staff or volunteer of the Centre or a member of the Royal Parks staff at all times when on site at Holly Lodge.  When you are in the yard, please:

• Beware of moving vehicles both in the yard and on the approach road.
• Follow the marked safe routes around the yard where available.
• Keep away from all machinery and equipment.
• Keep away from the large pieces of timber by the sawmill.
• Do not climb on bales of hay or straw stored in the barns.
• Take care when near the ponds.
• Do not touch any of the horses or feed them – they may bite!
• Do not enter the Shire Horse yard, particularly when the horses are tethered outside their stables, unless you are accompanied by a member of staff or volunteer.

It is the responsibility of the visiting organisation to carry out First Aid if necessary for their clients and staff. Please bring a First Aid kit with you and make sure that someone in your group is a trained First Aider. First Aid assistance is available on-site in an emergency. Please report any accidents to a member of staff or volunteer. Please also make sure all open wounds are covered before you arrive.

Deer Ticks

These tiny creatures may attach themselves to animals or people passing through long grass or bracken during the summer months.  The ticks feed by piercing the skin to suck blood. A small proportion of ticks can transmit an illness called Lyme Disease. The risk is very small and should not deter people from enjoying the Park, but it is advisable to take the following precautions:

• Keep legs and arms covered at all times in the park, or use insect repellent if bare-legged.
• Check your skin for the presence of ticks, which may be removed by gently twisting and pulling to ensure that the mouthparts are not left behind. Carefully wash the area afterwards.
• Lyme Disease initially presents as a red skin rash and possibly flu-like symptoms. If you have concerns, consult your doctor.
• You can find more information about ticks and Lyme disease here. A leaflet containing further information and advice may be obtained from the UK Health Security Agency here.

Oak Processionary Moth

The caterpillars of this moth shed toxic hairs which can cause unpleasant rashes, skin or eye irritations and sometimes breathing difficulties in people and animals.  Anyone experiencing symptoms should seek medical attention. The Holly Lodge yard and areas outside where activities take place are regularly checked for caterpillar nests, which are then removed by trained personnel.  Do not touch the caterpillars or their nests whether in the trees or off the ground.

Wooded Areas

Schools should keep out of wooded areas in the summer due to risks such as summer branch drop. Avoid sitting under trees with large branches.