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Help Us - Urgent Autumn Appeal

Please can you help us and the animals now that the winter is looming. We really don't want to have to wait until the weather deteriorates and life becomes miserable, if not impossible for all of us.

We have several urgent projects which need serious attention and desperately need your help.

Can you help?

1 - We are desperate for hard standing for both the animals to feed off and the hay to be stored on. It is imperative that we have tractor access to the hay storage areas — if we can't get the tractor to the hay and then out to the animals in the winter (the bales probably weigh best part of half a ton each and are impossible to manhandle) then the animals will either break in to the storage area and potentially do thousands of pounds worth of damage, break out of the field and potentially do thousands of pounds worth of damage to someone else's property. The solution is to lay concrete tracks and large bays for storage. We are desperate for the funds and a committed team that will help us achieve that end.

2 - As I look out of the window it is raining. We have had the wettest summer that I've ever experienced and, already, in August we're wading through mud. I dread to think what it will be like in February when, in past summers where the ground was parched and the grass was burnt and brown, we were slopping about in the stuff come midwinter. Since we are experiencing problems this summer with getting the hay out and our tractor is already getting stuck, so sodden is the ground, we are panicking. We rarely turn animals away since so few people are prepared to take on farmed animals, the Cinderellas of the animal rights movement, but things cannot continue. We have decided that we cannot take on anymore animals until we have the infrastructure in place to give them the quality of life that they deserve.

3 - A kind volunteer started to rebuild a stable from the ground up, with new breeze blocks. Unfortunately he was unable to finish the project and it has stood for some time, about 6 courses high and neither use nor ornament. Please, is there anyone out there that can finish the job? We have the blocks and sand and just need a lintel and some cement.

4 - Is there anyone out there that can put the roof on the above building once the walls are up?

5 - We have a block building that was damaged in a storm leaving walls standing at about 1m high. It might be viable to raise the walls with another material (the old, standing blocks are a funny width, I believe) and it would provide a good area of shelter for the winter if only someone could do the job.

6 - A roof with be required for the above building once completed.

7 - In the spring some volunteers came along and patched our roof on the house as tiles where becoming loose and the roof was leaking. The whole roof needs re-roofing, but we don't have the funds, as they have always gone on the animals first - can you help? All of the above, to some degree, will be a large financial drain on the sanctuary's limited funds. It would be wonderful if someone would commit to fund-raising, either for particular projects or on a regular basis just to help pay the bills. These are just some of the jobs that need tackling and, unpleasant as it might be, we keep coming back to money, money, money and people who are willing to save money for us so that we can pay the vet and buy food and water — yes, we even have to buy the water that they drink!

Please think about setting up a standing order, with regular donations we can plan what funds we have available, so we can try and plan for the future.

8 - To add to things, our van that we use to collect veg and bread for the animals has failed its MOT. Do you know of a kindly mechanic or a good condition van needing a good home?

We are looking at a short-fall of £20,000 this year which effects the animals and it makes it very hard for us though we are happy to put ourselves after the animals, would you please help us? We are very grateful and if anyone thinks that they may be able to help practically or financially then may I suggest that you think of it as an early Christmas present to the animals.

With love from Marion, Mark and the 'kids'. xx