Here at Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, we have a team of dedicated volunteers who help us with all manner of tasks. From cleaning aviaries to preparing food, gardening and maintenance roles, as well as plenty of visitor engagement and helping with events and fundraising, we are indebted to these people.
Some of our volunteers have been with us for years, others just for a few months, but one thing that they all love is the opportunity to help out an organisation like us and see what they’re doing makes a difference.
“Life’s never dull or boring when it’s a Jan day, and most definitely not clean!”
Earlier this year, we searched for Owl Reach Volunteers to assist with transporting injured birds to our Raptor Hospital on site. We were taken aback by the response and ran three successful introductory training sessions for over 30 people! Some of these have already been put to work, acting as a taxi service for birds found by members of the public who are unable to bring the bird to us themselves. Some have even helped with the release of these birds after a short stay in our Hospital.
This Little Owl was found by a member of the public and taken to a vets some distance away from the Sanctuary. An Owl Reach Volunteer collected it for us, and a couple of weeks later was able to release it near where it was found.
In addition to our individual volunteers, we’re always happy to have help from local businesses or organisations looking for a team building or volunteer day for their staff. Over the autumn we welcomed AXA XL who helped us relocate and rebuild our woodland bird hide, and in the spring we welcomed Hurren and Hope who helped us repaint 3 aviaries ready for the summer season. Without the help of corporate volunteer days, big projects would take much longer; with the help of these teams, we get it done in 1 day! A massive thanks to the companies who have already helped us in this way, and we look forward to welcoming a few more over the coming months.
The team from Hurren and Hope did a great job repainting some of our aviaries.
Volunteer Co-ordinator Beckie says “Without the amazing help our volunteers give us, we wouldn't be able to do the work we do! We can’t thank our volunteers enough, they are incredible!”