Understandably our priority is to the animals in our care. Their welfare, security and well-being is paramount and we are committed to establishing and sustaining an environment that is the best that we are able to offer them.
However our mission doesn’t end there.
We believe that our sanctuary’s role can be greater than just a haven for our animal residents and therefore we are engaged in a number of projects and working with numerous establishments to maximise the potential of our space.
Working with the Woodland Trust we are creating a natural copse to improve the biodiversity of the sanctuary and to create a natural habitat for decades to come which will benefit especially bees and other insect life, indigenous small mammals and indigenous bird species.
Working with the Hereford County Council and their Community Talks scheme we are engaged in improving the accessibility of the sanctuary so that, although we are not open generally to the public, we can offer more and more opportunities for people from all parts of society to engage with our projects and reap the proven benefits of working with animals, nature and horticulture. Already we have established close working links with John Kyrle High School and their Duke of Edinburgh Scheme, GEM Hildersley, Priory Tithe Barn Ross-on-Wye and National Star. We offer work experience sessions for 7 to 14 year olds, work experience courses for older teens and college undergraduates and we work with a number of home schooling groups.
We believe that by working with our community we can make a huge impact on mental health issues and offer unprecedented experiences to those most in need. This work aims also to educate for the ultimate benefit of our natural world and the animals that we share it with.
Our gardening projects are designed to help our own sustainability by providing a low carbon footprint food source for our animals and also to create a safe and healthy environment for our community to work in the open air in a mentally beneficial occupation.
Near future projects will be looking at how we can maximise our collection, recycling and reuse of rainwater.
Our goals and objectives are constantly expanding and we welcome suggestions and inputs from all quarters. The more we can improve the lives of our animals in residence and the health and well-being of our visitors and our community as a whole, the happier we shall be!