After 40 years of rescuing wildlife across Surrey, the Wildlife Aid Foundation is planning to open a visitor and rescue centre in addition to their current animal hospital situated in Leatherhead. They plan to increase the impact they have already made on both the welfare of local animals and the wider environment with their new centre, and are searching for funding to help them do so.

 

The Wildlife Aid Foundation (WAF) rescues, cares for, and rehabilitates sick, injured, and orphaned wild animals. The charity's veterinary wildlife hospital in Leatherhead sees more than 20,000 animal emergencies each year, and is unique in being the only centre that deals with harmed wildlife in Surrey, free of charge. WAF has a main goal of “rescue, rehabilitation and release”, where they aim to treat patients with the intention of reintroducing each animal back into the wild on their recovery. The work of the Foundation was featured in the popular TV series “Wildlife SOS” on Discovery Channel's 'Animal Planet’, which has now been moved to YouTube.

 

Situated just half a mile from their current site, WAF have purchased a 20-acre piece of land, where they plan to create the “Wildlife Aid Centre”. Here, they are pursuing the design of a network of habitats, including wetland, woodland, grassland, and meadow, to attract a wide range of wildlife. The habitats will open alongside a visitor centre, welcoming the public to a range of opportunities for learning about what they can do to live alongside and protect nature. 

 

However, WAF receives no statutory funding and relies solely on the generosity of donors. 

In conversation with Simon Cowell, CEO and founder of the foundation, he commented that: “It really depends on money for when we will be able to open the new centre; we will need £10 million to build it”.

 

When asked how the charity was looking to raise these funds, he said: “We are aware that it is a hefty budget, so we are liaising with high net worth individuals who may be willing to donate large sums.

 

“Although we have not done any major public fundraising initiatives as such, if everyone in Surrey were to donate £1 each, that would already be £6 million raised. There are a few open days coming up that will help us acquire some of the funding, so we look forward to those also”.


The opening of the Wildlife Aid Centre will be a huge addition to the local area in terms of education and also the preservation of nature. There are opportunities to donate, along with more information about the organisation on their website: www.wildlifeaid.org.uk.