If you already have a will and now wish to include a gift to us, it’s quite simple to create a codicil which can be stored with your will. A codicil is read alongside your will and allows you to make changes to your will without the need to rewrite it.

We recommend that you contact a professional for help in preparing your will. There are places you can look to for assistance. You can find an overview on the government website GOV.UK – Making a Will. Citizens Advice also has information online, or you can go to your nearest Citizens Advice office. The Law Society has a list of solicitors in your area who are able to help.

There are three ways you can leave us a gift in your Will

1. A share of your estate: this is a percentage of your estate after all other gifts and expenses have been paid. A percentage share of your estate will maintain its value or increase over time, and it also means you are less likely to need to amend it in the future. Of course those closest to you must come first, but just 1% can have a big impact on our work.
2. A specific sum: this is a gift of a set amount of money.
3. A specific item: this could be something valuable that we would sell and have the benefit of any money raised.

You are not obliged to let us know if you have mentioned The Fox Project in your will. If you do decide to tell us, we will not contact you further unless you wish us to do so.

Why do we need your money?

Casualty numbers have gone up every year all the way through our last three decades, from four in 1992 to to just over 1,100 in 2019. We have to work hard to maintain our income and keep pace with the demands on our funds.

What do we do with your money?

Our core activity is our ambulance service which runs 12 hours a day, every day of the year. Here are just some of the duties our ambulance drivers take on:

1. Manage the hospital unit and emergency phone, taking hundreds of calls every week and dealing with rescues
2. Co-ordinate rescues that involve our volunteer rescuers, making sure someone attends an emergency as quickly as possible
3. Site cage traps used to catch poorly but mobile foxes, and co-ordinate with fosterers and rehabilitators ensuring adequate supplies and equipment
4. Move casualties through our system and return them to their home patch
5. Support our volunteer fosterers and rehabilitators, visiting pens and making sure convalescing foxes are healing well and that supplies of food, etc., are kept up
6. Building pens on new sites, checking and maintaining pens to make sure they are fit for purpose

The cub unit operates from the beginning of March through to the end of June, and works around the clock, with up to 50 cubs at any one time needing constant care.

Our small admin team maintain medical and patient data, services, legal, regulatory and property issues, order provisions, pay bills, control vehicle movement and maintenance, monitor and maintain insurances for vehicles, property and people, organise construction and movement of pens, respond to phone calls, emails, texts and postal communications from the public on a multitude of issues, create, develop and manage fundraising activities and ensure the funds raised are where they are needed, when they are needed. It costs £1,200 pounds a day to run the hospital!

Education is very important to us and we take every opportunity to promote foxes, reduce conflict and increase understanding.