Hello everybody!

We have started our 6 month crowdfunding campaign, to prepare us for when we are able to return home. As many of you will know, our charity was forced to close its main 3 acre site due to DEFRA restrictions. We had a very difficult and distressing start to the year, having had a positive avian influenza case on site. What we didn't expect was for DEFRA to bulldoze through our entire premises, culling every single bird in every aviary and every building. We were then left with very tight restrictions including 12 months of forced closure. We have been doing the best we can to continue to help the public and animals and set up a small temporary site elsewhere with a portacabin, so we may continue rescuing and helping animals as best we can. Having our main site be closed has been very difficult. To have all of our large aviaries, enclosures and buildings closed off entirely and sitting empty for such a long time has been extremely frustrating. Further to that, these buildings and aviaries, after 2-3 seasons now are already starting to look derelict and we just know , after the colder months are through and we are able to return home, that these facilities are going to take a lot of work to enable us to reopen officially. As well as having to sadly watch the facilities we already have go unused and derelict for 12 months but this closure has halted our development work in other areas that we had planned to start this year. The tasks we are planning to do next year , once the restrictions are lifted from January 2023:

1. One of our large 20 by 20 m enclosures will be completely repurposed for wild waterfowl only. This will include the creation of multiple ponds, a series of weld-mesh aviaries and a large canopy roof to the entire enclosure (that is a big area!). Each aviary costs around £1500 and we plan to build 10 of them.

2. Our seabird enclosure will also receive a large solid canopy as a roof rather than a netted roof. Again, it is 20x20m so it is a very large area to cover. We can never stop wild birds flying over and pooping onto the site but we hope plastic covers over the largest aviaries will provide better protection for the largest flocks. Each canopy will cost approximately £8000 each.

3. Water treatment systems in both of the above enclosures . Estimated at £3000 each. We will be needing two of these.

4. One of our cabins will be repurposed for hedgehogs only. Each hog unit is £150 each and we will be getting an additional 30 units. Approx £5000

5. Continuation of our 60ft flights. The first block cost us £12,000 and we are half way through - another block costing £12,000 needed.

6. Renovations of our purpose built pigeon loft. Estimated cost £2000.

7. Hardstanding floor to our entire hedgehog garden, rabbit garden and our series of 60ft flights . Each enclosure space in concrete would cost around £5000.

8. New caging for our quarantine room in our main hospital, approx £5000.

9. Stable block (ok, this was going to be one of the later projects but adding all our development plans here in one place so we may all work towards making this happen) Estimated cost £8000

Total estimated at just around £100,000!!! One project at a time, one step at a time. Rome wasn't built in a day!

We are going to add one project at a time to the target fundraiser (first £15,000 for the repurposing of the waterfowl enclosure) and as each target is hit, we can add the next project. We will a years worth of delayed development work to get busy with when we reopen as well as a years worth of maintenance to catch up on! It is a daunting amount of money to raise, especially when we have the day to day running costs already too but together, we will be able to achieve it. Six months till we can start the work on our main site. But the fundraising can begin now.

As always, thank you all for your support and strength during what has been an extremely upsetting, stressful and testing year. It takes time to create great work but with your support, we know we can do it.