In the beginning, The Fox Project was a small shed in a small back garden where, if we were hard pressed, two or three fox cubs might be under care. Fast forward 30 years and you find us spread over multiple sites with an annual rescue total of over 1,000 foxes. How did we get here and how have we managed to stay on our feet? Mostly, it’s down to you – to our supporters who generate the funds to keep us on the road year in, year out. We really couldn’t do it without you and the money you raise.
HELP US BUILD A NEW WILDLIFE HOSPITAL
Currently, The Fox Project’s rescue operations revolve around our hospital unit in Paddock Wood and our cub unit at Pembury. Both facilities work well, but capacity is reaching its limit, especially at the cub unit where fifty cubs in a facility designed to hold thirty meant we almost burst at the seams. Our hospital unit also bulged scarily, being at full capacity for far longer than was comfortable. Building our own hospital would allow us to expand and bring together both units with a small office, overnight staff quarters, storage space and a workshop.
Whilst the Hospital Project is very exciting and vital to our future, we know it will be a long old slog and have no illusions that some of us will have more grey hair at the end than we started out with! Just finding a place to call home will be the first hurdle; we operate in the most expensive part of the country, so finding a piece of land we can afford won’t be easy. But we’ve never been put off by hard work or a challenge. Maybe YOU can help directly? Do you have a piece of land that you might want to sell? Maybe you have considered selling but are concerned to protect the environment from property developers? Well, that’s exactly how we would feel and it’s precisely the kind of long term protection and security we’d prefer to have.
The Fox Project has stood the test of time, highs and lows, ups and downs and lots of bumps in the road. But we’re still here and we’re still growing. While our pot of savings – the proceeds of a couple of significant legacies – will give us a start, it is, by no means, sufficient to complete our project. So we’re starting here! As of now, that ‘pot’ is ring-fenced and we need to keep adding to it. Are we daunted? Just a little – this will be the biggest fundraising campaign we’ve ever undertaken, but you, our supporters, have brought us this far over three decades and we know you won’t desert us now. When we get where we’re going, it will be a huge achievement for everyone involved and we’ll have a facility designed to serve wildlife well into the future.
We’ll be launching fundraising campaigns as the months go by, suggesting ways in which you might support the Hospital Project, buy a little slice of the hospital ‘cake’ and invest in our future.
We hope you’ll continue to support us in your usual way and with your usual generosity. Where specified, your donation will be designated specifically for our hospital fund and, if there’s any doubt, you can donate directly through our Just Giving “HOSPITAL PROJECT”
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/wildlifehospitalappeal
But don’t forget, if you’re a UK taxpayer, to sign up for Gift Aid. That way, we can claim a further 25% of your donation from the government and that brings us 25% nearer to our ambitions.
