Youth volunteers helping out

It was great to welcome the Youth Volunteer Group NCS to the sanctuary last week – not as visitors – but to help us out.   This is an opportunity open to all 16 and 17 year olds to help in the community, take on new challenges and make new friends.   They did a tremendous amount of work, some of the time in the rain, and also did a day fund raising for us, bag packing at a supermarket and rattling our collecting boxes – raising the magnificent sum of over £200!   Well done and many, many thanks.

This team of enthusiastic, animal loving and always smiling volunteers, included Jacob Wolstenholme, Dale Johnson, Heidi Dean, Zoe Lamb, Kyran Latham, Robert Walker, Abbie Rechert, Rebecca Hamilton, Samuel Hooper and Shannon Payne.  They are shown above having a break from picking ragwort – a poisonous plant and we have to get it out of the fields before the ponies can go out to graze in them.  It’s really hard work so a huge thank you for this.

Taming kittens was another challenge, lots of cat lovers around and no one was scratched.

Sweeping up time – the yard has never looked so good!

We even had a fence and a shed re-painted.  These guys are quick workers!

The team leaders also lend a hand – watch those claws, some of these kits are tiny tigers.

It was a magnificent effort, thank you so much, it’s a wonderful project and has made a big difference to us.  Our Chesterfield young people are the best ever.

S