About Longridge Alpacas
Hello and thanks for stopping by!
My name is Anthony, I am the proprietor of Longridge Alpacas and have been since January 2021.
I'll start by telling you a little bit about us and how we came to be in this position!
About US
Prior to moving to Goosnargh we lived in the Fylde area of Lancashire. Anthony worked full-time as a registered nurse and also ran a successful not for profit business called seriously.hooked.up. which brings people who have a love of yarn crafts (knitting / crochet / weaving / macrame etc) together for social events including workshops, knit & natter sessions, day trips and even yarn craft based weekends away. One of our day trips included a visit to an alpaca farm and that is when we fell in love with these wonderful animals. So when we moved to Goosnargh Anthony learned that Longridge Alpacas were recruiting new volunteers. So back in April 2019 he applied to become a volunteer and has not looked back since!
For the best part of a year Anthony and other volunteers assisted the alpacas' previous owner with walks, educational visits, training, feeding and care. The visits helped to contribute to the cost of maintaining the animals health and welfare. Then the COVID pandemic happened and people were told to stay at home, meeting people outdoors became illegal and the money that the alpacas generated with their visits dried up. Unfortunately for the animals, the land they lived on became unavailable meaning they had to find a new home. They found their new home in September 2020, but it was quickly evident that the land was not suitable for their long term home due to flooding and poor drainage. And in a triple blow to the boys, their owners had a number of issues beyond their control which meant that they had to make the very difficult decision of finding new owners for the boys.
As someone who had become very familiar with the animals, learning all about them, their individual personalities and traits, the thought of seeing them go to a new owner and potentially out of the area and out of our lives really upset us. So in late December 2020 we stepped up and took them on. Obviously aware that we were also taking on the responsibility of finding them a new permanent home. Fortunately, in January 2021 we found the land we so desperately needed to meet the boys' needs.
We set about trying to raise money through crowd funding to help meet the costs of installing their new field shelter and storage and we were able to move them at the end of March 2021 to the Little Glen where we hope they will remain permanently.
Once COVID restrictions eased, we were able to reopen and allow visitors. We run Longridge alpacas as a not for profit organisation - every penny is fed directly back to the animals care and welfare, whilst hopefully covering some of the overheads too. Our aim is to raise enough money to put down a deposit and buy the land securing their home forever. We have big plans to ensure our boys are living their best life for their whole lives!
Thanks for reading,
we can't wait to welcome you!
Anthony, Paul & Angela