Rye Harbour Discovery Centre update
Maria Jonsson
Acting Director of Business Support
Thank you to all our visitors and customers who have come to see the Discovery Centre.
We are delighted with the positive response we have received and very excited to finally be able share our new, flagship building with everyone.
The team are looking forward to being able to welcome more of you, now that we have increased our capacity. We are taking a cautious approach in returning to normal and making sure that we accommodate everyone’s needs as far as possible.
Sussex Wildlife Trust has decided to keep some of the Covid safety measures in place for now, for example our staff and volunteers will still be wearing face masks, we will keep our additional hygiene measures in place and customers are still able to sign in using the Track and Trace QR code if they wish. We appreciate that there is a broad range of views on the subject of the lifting of Covid regulations and we hope that the additional safety measures enable you to feel comfortable to visit if you would like to.
Garden furniture has been delivered, and, at the time of writing we are waiting for this to be assembled, so that food and drinks from the café can be enjoyed outside – much needed when we are blessed with lovely weather!
Our much-valued volunteers continue to be a fantastic asset to the Centre, in their roles in the shop and café. There will be more volunteer roles to follow. Do keep an eye on the website for opportunities to get involved. Thank you to all of those who give their time so generously.
The team are starting to plan events, art exhibitions, coffee mornings and other activities, which we will be able to tell you more about in the coming weeks and months.
Keep an eye on our social media updates - Twitter @ryeharbour_NR, Facebook @RyeHarbourNR, Instagram - Nature Reserve,@RyeHarbourNR and NEW! Instagram Lime Kiln Café @lime_kiln_cafe
Our website can be found here
Comments
Hi there. I walk the dog at Rye Harbour almost every day. The quality of the building, the restaurant, the food and the staff is not in doubt, and the seats along the windows are an inspiration. My main suggestion would be to lengthen the opening hours, at least in the summer, and/or make them coincide with the car park opening hours. Opening hours should be dictated by the convenience of customers, and not by the convenience of staff. As a results you are losing a lot of business early morning and late afternoon, and that is a real shame. Many of my fellow dog walkers agree!
ANSWER: Thank you for your email and your suggestions. Opening hours is something that we are thinking about and will extend in due course. We have opened the Discovery Centre in exceptional circumstances and as I am sure you can imagine the current situation with Covid regulations and self-isolation requirements mean that we at times have experienced staff shortages. To ensure we are able to keep open every day, we have decided to delay the extension of opening hours for the time being. Our planning permission does also limit the time we are able to open and this will be another consideration we need to take into account when we decide what the opening hours will be in the future. We value your input and will ensure customer feedback is taken into account when we are in a place to consider the Centre’s opening hours.02 Aug 2021 13:46:00