The centre saves more than 3,000 woodland creatures a year, but after rising costs, they may have to close ahead of 2025.
Finn Macdiarmid reports.
Finn Macdiarmid reports.
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00:00Since 1994, Folly Wildlife Rescue Centre in Tunbridge Wells has taken in animals from
00:05mice to deer, giving them the care they need before releasing them into the wild again.
00:10They save more than 3,000 animals a year, but they're struggling to raise enough money
00:14to continue their work, with running the centre costing between £20,000 to £30,000 a month.
00:20Despite having around 150 volunteers, the centre is struggling to pay the full-time
00:25staff they do have, as the charity are only funded by public donations and any fundraising
00:31they do themselves.
00:32But it's not enough for the rising costs.
00:34It's £30,000 a month to run the wildlife rescue.
00:41A lot of that is obviously you've got food, we have medication and our veterinary team's
00:48services, and obviously the utilities, so heating, lights, running the washing machine.
00:56I think the main cost for us has been staffing, and that's the biggest increase that we've
01:01seen with minimum wage going up.
01:04They don't receive any funding from the government or lottery grants, and without any new cash
01:08flow coming in, the wildlife hospital will be forced to reduce their hours in September
01:13and then stop their operations entirely by 2025.
01:17For the animals, catastrophic, because there's nowhere else local to take this wildlife,
01:23the birds, the hedgehogs, we have deer in here, swans, geese, ducks, you know, snakes,
01:30you name it, it comes through the doors, and if there's nowhere else local to bring these
01:33animals, you know, they're not going to be saved.
01:40If worst came to worst, Folly Animal Rescue would stop admitting their patients around
01:44a month in advance, rehabilitating the ones they already have, and making sure that any
01:48with long-term needs could be transferred to new homes with other charities.
01:52In the present, the volunteers ensure the animals are kept in clean conditions and have
01:56enough food and water to recuperate.
01:58So to get a better sense of what they have to do, I decided to pitch in.
02:02Well, this is a collared dove.
02:05She had a calcium deficiency from mum and dad, and she's already been treated for her
02:08canker, and now we're moving her so that we can clean her cage.
02:13After transferring the dove, I cleaned out the incubator, got their food and water ready,
02:18gave their incubator some fresh newspaper, and a new woolen perch.
02:22With the hospital's future unknown, it leaves the lives of the hundreds of animals in their
02:25care, and the ones they could help in the future, uncertain.
02:29Finn McDermid for CAME-TV in Tunbridge Wells.