Pictured are Lucy Neville-Rolfe with Prof Ian Walmsley and children from Wolvercote Primary School at the launch of the new trailer at FAI Farms.

The plans to convert a barn and outbuildings into a centre for school parties as well as a butchery and food demonstration centre were unveiled at the official reception ceremony for a new purpose-built trailer that is set to boost school visits to the farm.

The ribbon cutting ceremony for the new trailer was conducted by Prof Ian Walmsley the Pro Vice Chancellor of Oxford University and Lucy Neville-Rolfe, trustee of the Tesco Charity Trust, which donated the trailer.

Ms Neville-Rolfe said that the supermarket chain Tesco and FAI had come together 10 years ago and the initiative has been at the forefront in introducing safety and welfare practices and research.

And she praised the education initiative on the farm.

"This initiative is very important from a consumer point of view," she said at the opening ceremony.

"Many children do not know where their meat and eggs come from."

FAI farms 1,250 acres as a tenant of Oxford University and it also undertakes projects to develop sustainable food production for the future.

The school visit programme is run by the Outdoor Classroom, a new initiative that brings together FAI, the Oxford-based charity FACT (The Farm Animal Care Trust) and The University of Oxford.

The Friends of FAI, under the umbrella of FACT, is supporting the initiative with the aim of raising enough funds to employ an Education Officer who will co-ordinate all the activities and work with teachers to ensure that pupils get the most from their time on the farm.