Willowbeck resident raises £1700 for wildlife charities with Wildlife Awareness Day

A resident at Willowbeck care home in Sheffield was the driving force behind raising an incredible £1690 through a Wildlife Awareness Day at the home in aid of two wildlife charities, Born Free and Animal Asia.  

The idea for the day began when Caroline, a resident at Willowbeck, who loves koala bears, was saddened by the devastating effect that recent bushfires have had on Australian wildlife – in one region, a third of the entire koala population has been affected by the bushfires.

So last month, she asked Linda Galton, an Activities Coordinator at the home, what they could do to help. Together they planned a Wildlife Awareness Day to fundraise for charities Born Free and Animal Asia.

Bathed in the last of the summer sunshine, the Wildlife Awareness Day was held on Friday 18 September 2020, in the 60-bed home’s courtyard.

On the day, residents and the Care Team took part in a raffle with tickets sold to family and friends, and set up a cake stand, bric-a-brac stall, and a stand selling t-shirts. While there, several Care Team members signed up with Born Free to adopt an animal for 12 months.

The day was kindly supported by colleagues across Exemplar Health Care who donated raffle prizes for the tombola.

A range of local businesses also took part, including Celebrate and Create that donated the first prize balloon with a koala teddy bear inside, Hughes Family Bakery that baked 50 koala-themed biscuits, and Morrisons, WH Smiths, Dunelm, Tesco and Green People that donated hampers and items to raffle.

At the end of the day, the home’s manager presented Caroline and Linda with a bouquet of flowers each to say thank you for their hard work, and for raising the money.

Animals Asia sent Caroline a personalised letter to say an extra special thank you for being the inspiration behind the day.

Jill Robinson, Founder and CEO of Animals Asia wrote: “By holding this fantastic event for us and Born Free I hope you know just how much you are helping so many animals in need of our help across Asia, Australia and beyond.

“Your amazing fundraising means that there are moons bears at our sanctuaries, feeling the sunshine on their faces and playing in pools and rolling in grass, just like bears should!”

Linda Galton, Activities Coordinator at Willowbeck, added: “It was incredible to be able to make this day happen for Caroline. She’s so passionate about wildlife and has loved been able to help out in this small way.

“Everyone at Willowbeck got behind the day – from selling raffle tickets, to donating tombola prizes, colouring in the bunting and manning the cake stand – it really has been a team effort and I’m extremely proud and grateful to everyone for their support.”

Read about Willowbeck care home in Sheffield.