Overwhelmed by help for Sanctuary Wildlife Care Centre

Nov 10 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal

A WILDLIFE sanctuary threatened with closure because of rising costs and falling visitor numbers has been inundated with offers of help.

More than 50 people have contacted the Sanctuary Wildlife Care Centre in Northumberland to donate money or promise food for the animals since The Journal revealed its plight a week ago.

So far about £2,000 has been raised to help the centre meet the £9,000 cost of winter feed and others have promised to collect dog and cat food for the 157 animals currently being cared for.

Yesterday Kim Olson, who runs the sanctuary with her husband Allan Pettersson, said they were ‘overwhelmed’ by the public response to their plight – but warned more help was still needed to ensure the centre remained open. The sanctuary has operated in the village of Ulgham near Morpeth for 13 years and provides a lifeline for hundreds of injured, sick and abandoned animals – such as foxes, badgers, owls, goats and rabbits – brought in by members of the public.

Last week The Journal revealed how it was facing its worst-ever closure threat and had been forced to stop taking in any new animal casualties because it cannot afford to feed and care for them.

A combination of the terrible summer weather and the cost of fuel has seen the number of visitors drop and school trips cut back, resulting in the sanctuary’s income plummeting by a third this year.

It has been left with virtually no money to see it through the winter months and all of its paid staff are now working on a voluntary basis in a bid to help it weather the current financial crisis and survive.

Yesterday Kim said: “We have been absolutely overwhelmed by the response to our plea for help, and want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has contacted us. However, we cannot rest on our laurels, because we are not there yet and still need more support in order to continue.

“People are sending cheques on a daily basis, others have set up standing orders to donate to us and one woman is coming in on Saturday to give us £1,000. We have had emails from people saying we cannot close down because this is such a fantastic place and does a vital job.

“People are offering to collect cat and dog food for us, and some teachers have said they will ask their pupils to bring in cans of food for the animals. However, it costs us £17,000 a year to feed our animals, including £8,000 or £9,000 in the winter months, so we would appeal to people out there to continue helping us.”

Anyone who wants to help the sanctuary survive can send donations to The Sanctuary, Crowden Hill Farm, Ulgham, Morpeth NE613NH. Its website is http://www.northumberlandlife.org/sanctuarywildlifecare/default.asp and the telephone number is (01670) 791778. It is open every Saturday in November and December between 11am and 4pm.