Our companions have been enjoying supporting local animals and wildlife by volunteering at Northamptonshire charity, Animals in Need.
A team of two members of staff and six companions packed a car with animal-related donations including blankets, baskets, pet carriers, bowls, harnesses and toys, in an act of solidarity for the charity based in Little Irchester.
They volunteered their time walking dogs, cleaning the duck enclosure and clearing an overgrown dog training field, as well as receiving a fascinating tour of the Wildlife Unit, which deals with hundreds of sick and injured animals each year.
The companions enjoyed it so much, they returned again the following week (May Bank Holiday Monday) to complete the dog field makeover, using our community strimmers and lawnmower.
Corporate volunteers
Issy Baker, our Wellbeing and Development Worker said: “We have corporate volunteers here all the time helping us with tasks on site and I thought it would be fun if we became the corporate volunteers and helped another charity.
“I got in touch with Animals in Need and they were absolutely thrilled about it and said they love Emmaus Village Carlton and would be really pleased to have us. Staff member Ben and I took six companions with us.
“They all turned up on time, really keen to go and help the animals which was lovely. We got there about 10am and we had a bit of a tour around and met the staff.”
The team were then asked if they would like to walk the dogs and were all given a dog each and walked from the rescue centre and around the local park for a couple of hours.
A real mixture of dogs
Issy said: “I had a huge greyhound which was absolutely beautiful. It was quite funny because there were chihuahuas and pugs and collies – a real mixture of dogs who were all different sizes, but all lovely.
“After our dog walk, we cleaned out the duck run which needed a good clean, but the guys got straight in there. They had to clean out and replace the old straw and clean and refill the paddling pool, but they got right in there with that.
Amazing work
“We also got to see a wildlife hospital they have there – they’ve got fox cubs, and they had a heron with a broken arm, so it was really nice to see their amazing work close up which is absolutely incredible.”
The charity has three enclosed dog fields which they use for exercise and dog training, one of which was unusable as it was so overgrown, but again the Emmaus team got stuck in and began clearing it.
Issy said: “The field was six foot tall with nettles, and we did some clearing with the little tools we had and uncovered loads of dog toys, a sandpit and a dog kennel! We decided that we would need to come back the following week bringing the strimmers and mowers to really get it sorted.”
Giant African tortoise
After all their hard work, the Emmaus crew was rewarded by another tour and met a giant African land tortoise, as well as rabbits and the resident cats.
Issy said: “What was so nice was that the companions arranged to go back the following week quite independently. Companion Tony made everybody a packed lunch and off they went in the spare van, filled with all the tools and stuff and they were there all day helping out.
“It was really good for them to go off site and do something important like that and they thoroughly enjoyed it. They want to go on a regular basis now – hopefully every few weeks which would be great.
“What’s lovely is that it’s a lovely connection between us and another local charity and it sparked some interesting conversations about different acts of solidarity we could do going forward.”
We regularly support Animals in Need with animal or pet-related items kindly donated by our supporters. For more details on Animals in Need, or to make a donation, visit Animals in Need.