Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary, our journey and how you can be part of something special
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Baby season is now in full swing. Every month hundreds of tiny orphaned wild animals are brought to Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS). In the wild, these babies would be under the loving care of their mothers. Now, they find refuge at our Sanctuary.
Many have suffered injuries after falling from nests or being caught by dogs or cats; others have lost their mothers to road traffic accidents, garden machinery or some other human intervention. Whether they are nestling garden birds or infant rabbits, fox cubs, or fledgling corvids, each of these orphans have gone through the trauma of being orphaned.
Here at WWS, these hungry, helpless babies are provided with around the clock care and hand rearing, to help them grow and develop. Our staff and volunteers prepare dozens of species specific diets every day! At WWS we do everything in our power to help these animals gain the strength and skills needed for life in the wild, including learning to fly, forage and be accustomed to outdoor weather and temperatures before release back into the wild. It is essential these animals are acting wild prior to release.
Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary began fifteen years ago, completely by accident! I, Alexandra Smith, Founder of WWS, began WWSs journey through volunteering at my local veterinary practice. Members of the public would take wildlife casualties to them but vet practices don’t have the facilities to keep so many wild animals long term. I would offer to help by taking in a few. ‘I have a couple of spare cages at home’, I would say. I quickly learnt that this service was desperately needed in our area. Word had soon spread that I was taking in wildlife casualties, to help make them better. Over time, this work grew and became busier and busier. By this time I had gone through University and was a primary school teacher, juggling both wildlife and teaching. A couple of years of this and I made the decision to leave teaching and concentrate on the charity full time. It was a service that people and our local wildlife needed. We started to recruit volunteers to help, we became a registered charity and after a few more years of scrimping and saving, we were able to obtain a mortgage for the land we are on today - to protect the charity for years to come. WWS now takes several thousand wildlife casualties and orphans a year, with a team of around 150 volunteers that work tirelessly to rescue, transport and care for all these animals. We also have volunteers running a charity shop in town at 46 Flowergate, Whitby, raising vital funds for our work. Our 3 acre site of enclosures and buildings take a lot of general maintenance and looking after and our volunteers work a lot to keep it all in good condition. Our administrative team has a never ending task too, every single animal admitted needs records following them through rehabilitation. Not to mention the never ending calls, messages and emails to the charity from people needing advice and help. It is really amazing how far WWS has come and we are excited to see it continue to grow.
Our volunteers are the backbone of our work. We just couldn’t have achieved all this without them. All across the North East, people give us their spare time to keep WWS operating. Over 150 volunteers are working together to create a wildlife rehabilitation centre we can all be proud of and you can be a part of it too. However much time you have and whatever skills and experience you can bring, there are many ways in which you can help the wildlife living on your doorstep. With so much to get involved in, we are sure we will have something for you; charity shop & online sales, transporting animals to the centre, feeding and cleaning animals on site at our main premises at Broomfields Farm, YO22 4NW or supporting us in general maintenance or admin. Our volunteering opportunities can fit around you, from regular commitments with a scheduled rota (this can be weekly, fortnightly or even monthly), to one off volunteering days for large groups and other organisations. Whatever you decide to do, you’ll be part of a fantastic, friendly team helping us to rescue and care for the amazing wildlife from the North East.
Volunteers need to be based in North East England with the ability to travel.
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