PROJECT UPDATE

The press we picked up whilst campaigning on Peoplefund.it was great. We were so pleased to have raised over £1,000 with a week of our campaign left to go and everyone seemed to like shouting about it.

You can read all about our plea to help save the birds on This is Hampshire http://www.thisishampshire.net/news/10186638.Aviary_cash_flies_in_from_web/

The Basingstoke Gazette also loved shouting about us. http://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/news/10186638.Aviary_cash_flies_in_from_web//

Bo-basing.co.uk also got a piece of the action and told everyone about our great success http://bo-basing.co.uk/uncategorized/hart-wildlife-trust-peoplefund/

The Basingstoke Observer picked up on the great work we were doing and decided to shout about us too. http://www.basingstokeobserver.co.uk/news/community/ducklings-are-going-quackers-for-new-home-3738

HART - 'Help Us Grow' Appeal

Hart Wildlife Rescue is a donation run charity that cares for sick, injured and abandoned wildlife across Hampshire and the surrounding counties. We also provide advice for local vets, the police and RSPCA on wildlife care, as well as members of the public and local groups.

Being the only wildlife rescue centre of our kind in Hampshire, we desperately need to expand our facilities to accommodate for our rapidly increasing admissions. Since moving to our purpose built hospital in Medstead in the summer of 2010, we have seen a 50% increase in the number of animals we receive; this year it looks like we will reach over 2,000 animals. These can be anything, from hedgehogs to deer, we even received a puffin last year!

So HART needs to grow to keep up with this rising demand of animal casualties. We need to build facilities to care for more animals, and this water bird enclosure is the first step towards a larger project to expand. With no dedicated suitable space for waterbirds at the moment means all too often we can only look after these animals on a short-term basis before sending them on to other hard-pressed centres. We need to make more room for the animals we already receive, providing them proper space to be cared for before being released back into the wild, and expand the space we have to be able to accept and treat more species.

The full project to expand is planned to be completed in stages as funding allows, as planning permission is in place and the facilities are needed as soon as possible, with this space for waterbirds the first and critical step. It might not feel like Spring is round the corner, but all too soon the ducklings will be arriving again, and we need to build them a safe, sheltered outdoor home where they can paddle to their heart's content.

How You Can Help

Through Peoplefund.it and your help we would like to raise £2,500 to help us build the water birds aviary. Due to the extreme and unusual weather conditions we have received over 30 ducklings since April, along with many other water birds, such as swans and herons, and we need to build them accommodation suitable for their needs so as to give them the best chance of rehabilitation and release back into the wild.