Continuing with our Help Your Britain campaign, today marks the 13th user-nominated charity to be showcased on Bing.
There are more than 187,000 registered charities across Great Britain with a story to be told, many of whom will never be heard due to the lack of resources at their disposal. We’re shining the spotlight on these unsung British heroes as part of our long-term campaign, enabling you, the British public, to nominate the charities you would like to see via www.bing.com/HelpYourBritain.
Today is the turn of…
Brent Lodge Wildlife Hospital is based in Sidlesham in West Sussex, and this is where the dedicated team of experts treats more than 3,000 sick, orphaned and injured wildlife casualties every year. About 2,500 of these are birds with the rest being mainly hedgehogs, as well as a few deer and badgers as well as small mammals. Many of these patients are victims of interactions with the human population; this includes road accident casualties, poisoning, pollution or environmental damage as well as victims of deliberate cruelty.
A few words from Steve Rackett, Operations Manager at Brent Lodge Bird and Wildlife Trust:
“It is 10am on a busy day in June. There are over 200 patients in the hospital and Emma, our Hospital Manager is undertaking the task of feeding and cleaning a wide variety of birds and small mammals with the support of a team of volunteers.
Some of the younger patients, or animals, need very regular feeding and require special attention from our volunteers. Our most common little animals that need attention are ducklings and very young hedgehogs. Today, several finches are also getting hungry so it’s their turn next. Meanwhile one of the swans needs some urgent medicine and lately, they’re coming in constantly! It is not unusual to have around 30-40 animals admitted in a single day, sometimes even more and they all have to be logged in, found space, assessed and treated.
As the animals recover from illness or injury, they are moved to spaces outside, and Darren, who manages the outside grounds is constantly cleaning the aviaries and feeding the birds with Rob; it’s a big task and they’ll also have be looking after deer, badgers and foxes.
Days are generally always very busy at Brent Lodge so volunteer time is precious. Without their efforts it would be impossible to run Brent Lodge, so when two more people come through the door offering to help it makes a big difference, whether they can help for just an hour or a whole day.”
To read more about these speedy daredevils or for more information on how you can support Brent Lodge Bird and Wildlife Trust visit www.brentlodge.org.
If you would like to see your charity of choice take over the Bing homepage, you can nominate them here: www.bing.com/HelpYourBritain. Don’t forget to get involved with the conversation on Facebook and Twitter #HelpYourBritain