The Folly Wildlife Rescue charity near Tunbridge Wells, which treats more than 3500 animals every year, is faced with imminent closure unless it can generate additional revenue streams to cover mounting costs.
The operation based in Broadwater Forest in Kent has rescued injured, orphaned and distressed wild animals and birds, for more than 30 years. It will be forced to reduce its operating hours from at the end of September and closing operations entirely by the end of the year without an influx of cash,” said Liz Chandler, General Manager, whose parents founded the Trust.
The wildlife hospital, complete with its own veterinary and x-ray unit, which occupies about 800 square feet on the 6-acre site, needs between £20,000 and £30,000 a month to operate, with seasonal costs peaking in summer.
The Trust has been handed a potential lifeline by patron Sandra Beck, the widow of the late rock guitarist Jeff, who lived nearby. Shortly Before he died Jeff received a 12-bottle case of ‘Old Stinkhorn Organic Ale’ from his friend and former Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney. The Charity hopes to auction the beer, named after the eponymous fungus at hop-picking time, as part of a series of emergency fund-raising measures.
Every year, thousands of wildlife casualties are treated after being injured in accidents involving some form of human activity, such as entanglement in plastic netting, fencing or fishing line, road traffic accidents, injury caused by garden machinery, poisoning, shooting and attack by domestic pets.
The Trust specialises in the hand-rearing of mammals, including hedgehogs, badgers, foxes, mice, rabbits and even deer, as well as nestling and fledgling birds of all species.
Although the hospital has taken in more exotic non-native species in its time, including a racoon and a vulture.
Dave Davies from The Kinks, is highly active in his support. The Trust received a massive boost in 2022 when the actor Johnny Depp visited the hospital and became a patron, causing the charity’s own Instagram following to surge from under 6,000 to over 26,000 in less than 12 hours.
The facility was featured on Alan Titchmarsh’s Gardening Club programme on ITV in November.
Another of Folly Wildlife Rescue’s celebrity patrons is renowned wine critic and TV personality Jilly Goolden, when they were called to assist with a fallow deer she had rescued after it had been caught on a fence in the Ashdown Forest.
