Farm Animal Sactuary gets a boost

Buy photos » Christine Greenhill and Janet Taylor with one of the happy residents at the Farm Animal Sanctuary at Middle Littleton. (s)

A SANCTUARY for neglected farm animals has been given a timely boost thanks to the generosity of staff at a recruitment firm.

The Farm Animal Sanctuary in Middle Littleton received a cheque for £400 from Pertemps People Development Group based in Worcester.

The money will be used to buy specialist sheep handling equipment designed to handle the animals in a stress free way.

The sanctuary, which was on the brink of closure earlier this year, is a safe haven for more than 600 animals and birds and one of the few places in the world dedicated to rescuing abandoned farm animals.

An appeal to raise £70,000 was launched by patron Joanna Lumley a fortnight ago so the sanctuary's owner, Janet Taylor, can buy Manor Orchard Farm where the charity is based and keep it open.

Ms Taylor, an ex-journalist, founded the sanctuary 22 years ago and said the donation would be a real help.

"After reporting on some of the unethical conditions animals were being kept in, I started to begin purchasing some of them to prove a point,"she said.

"Thankfully things have improved but in addition farm animals still need homes when people can no longer look after them which is where we come in. This donation is a real boost to our fund raising and will make such a difference to us."

Christine Greenhill encouraged her colleagues at Pertemps to make the £400 donation from the company’s payroll giving scheme.

She said she had loved farm animals since she was a toddler and so had nominated the sanctuary for support.

"We try to support those causes that don’t often get mainstream support," she added.

"People tend to give to domestic animal charities but the larger animal ones miss out. Hopefully our contribution will ensure Janet and her team can continue their fantastic work."

Details of how to make donations can be found at www.thefarmanimalsanctuary.co.uk.

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