Target reached!
Our initial target of £5000 which we successfully reached is going to be spent on ...
FARS - 'All Lives Are Precious!'
Wolverton, England, United Kingdom
Aim
FARS-'All Lives Are Precious' connects rescued animals with people of all ages and abilities through events, education, and volunteering.
OUR STORY
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What is 'FARS - All Lives Are Precious'?
FARS (Farm Animal Rescue Sanctuary) is a registered non-profit Community Interest Company that believes All Lives Are Precious! It is based in Warwickshire, just a few miles from Stratford-upon-Avon. Our mission is clear: To provide a safe and peaceful environment where rescued animals can remain for the rest of their lives, whilst allowing compassionate and like-minded people to come together.
Who are we?
OUR PEOPLE:
It was back in 1988 when the first seedlings of Farm Animal Rescue Sanctuary were sown. Carole Webb (picture below), now 75, a former veterinary nurse, heard about a very poorly new-born lamb at a local farm. Not expected to survive, she asked the farmer if she could adopt the tiny lamb. The farmer agreed. Naming him Larry, she took him home to hand rear, but Larry certainly wasn’t the last! Next came premature lamb triplets, who she named the Didley family. All three had to be fed every few hours and just like Larry they thrived. From that point Carole knew her life was going to be dedicated to rescuing animals and at one stage, she was caring for over 800 animals.
We are a close-knit family of volunteers who get out of bed every day determined to make a difference to the lives of emotionally and physically broken animals, and we do our absolute best to represent what Carole started. She is a huge inspiration to us all and under her supervision and guidance we have shown that being kinder to animals gives us hope and brings new generations a better future.
OUR ANIMALS:
FARS is currently home to more than 400 animals (mainly sheep, but also pigs and chickens among other animals). The residents come from far and wide, having arrived in various states of health, many having been rescued from dreadful cruelty and, or poor living conditions. These emotionally, intelligent beings are too often dismissed as worthless and yet they show remarkable affection and gentleness once their fear has been dispelled. They are equally capable of forming loving bonds with human beings, just like any household pet.
Some are well loved pets, whose owners, due to unforeseen circumstances can no longer care for them, whilst others have escaped the horrendous live export trade. These though, are the lucky few, fortunate to land at the doorstep of Woolly Park, greeted by Carole with open, loving arms.
Why we do what we do?
FARS has been going for 32 years and the support since day one has been wonderful. Over the years Carole, together with her team, have managed to grow our community through the stories of all the rescued animals. Just seeing how many people we have behind us now is incredibly heart-warming. We believe our project is a step in the right direction in order to keep making a positive difference on people and their approach towards animals and each other.
We believe with a passion that everybody has the power to convert their care into action, to make the world a fairer and kinder place for EVERYONE. Whether you're a human being, a pet, or a farm animal!
In the current world that we live in, we are experiencing a great deal of hardship, and we believe it is important now more than ever to invest in our community and connect back with nature.
HOW DO WE INTERACT WITH THE COMMUNITY AND MAKE CONNECTIONS?
FARS take part in a great deal of outreach work and events to educate the public and our communities about the importance of respecting all kind of animals. Through our volunteering programme, we encourage people to spend more time outside, learn new skills, help others and form new friendships. If you'd like more information about how to volunteer, please see 'Why should I volunteer at FARS' section further down below.
We like to think that we offer an oasis of hope, where people can come together to share their passion for nature and learn more about how to protect it. This, we feel, is one of the most important things we do: opening minds, set hearts on fire and connecting people to the natural world and... each other!
THE BENEFITS OF BEING AROUND ANIMALS!
The bonds between humans and animals are powerful and the positive correlation between animals and mental health is undeniable. Not only do animals help with depression, anxiety and stress, but they also ease loneliness. Many children living with autism or other learning difficulties, such as ADHD, are sometimes better able to interact with animals than people. We have witnessed some beautiful and heart-warming stories of children and adults turning to FARS and building their self-esteem through the companionship of our animals, blossoming into more confident individuals.
At FARS we want to continue growing our community in order to spread awareness and teach people about respecting all animals, not only the ones we share our homes with.
What will we do with the money?
We have set a target of £5000 because of the number of supporters we think we'll be able to reach. The money will be spent on making improvements to our pathways to enable better access for all members of our community, especially those with disabilities. Some areas are easier to access than others but some are in urgent need of work. Better pathways would allow us to hold more events on our grounds and provide better tours to our visitors, including smaller groups of local school children, people from care homes and everyone else who would benefit from being around our animals.
HOW WILL WALKWAYS BENEFIT THE ANIMALS??
We are an animal sanctuary and the animals are everything to us! But without you we wouldn't be able to exist, or carry on. Of course, our animals are one of the reason behind this project and new pathways would open the doors to new opportunities, allowing us to let more people know about who we are. The more people that visit FARS, the more support we will be able to get, and the more animals we will be able to rescue in the future!
During winter months the tough and wet weather means we are in a constant battle with mud, especially in those places with a high level of foot traffic. These areas are used by everyone, including our furry residents! With many elderly and often disabled animals this becomes an issue each year but now we can hopefully fix it.
WHAT MATERIAL WILL WE USE?
We will use concrete as our hard flooring. As a natural component it is a great sustainable building material; providing longevity, energy efficiency, lower life-cycle costs and weather resilience.
WHAT HAPPENS IF WE RAISE MORE MONEY?
The more funds we raise, the more work we will be able to undertake. If we exceed our £5000 target, we would also be able to upgrade our outdoor pig pens, so that our piggies have ample space, in which to enjoy the country air, they deserve. Again, made from sustainable materials such as concrete and recycled wood. Ideally, we would also like these to be fully accessible for everyone to be able to comfortably visit. We currently have 8 pigs but sadly 5 of them are still waiting for their upgraded homes which we haven't been able to afford.
Why we need your help?
Even before COVID-19 became part and parcel of our daily lives, FARS was finding it hard to raise funds to care for and feed so many animals. But since the lock-down, our circumstances, like many others around the world, have worsened.
We had to cancel our Easter Open Day (one of our main financial sources), we have been unable to get out and about at various fundraising events and it means that we now find ourselves in desperate need of a cash injection.
Of course, many of you already support us through either donations or adoptions of our animals and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for that!
How can you help us?
TELL THE WORLD! - if you love our idea then please - tell your friends and family and everyone else you know. The more people knowing about FARS - All Lives Are Precious, the more donations we will get!
SHARING IS CARING! - We really appreciate any support that you give, and if you can't give financially, we would be very grateful if you share our Crowdfunder campaign through your social media with as many people as you can!
DONATE (only if you can)! - We know that this is a financially stressful time all round and therefore our message is - Please just donate whatever you can, all the pounds add up and will make a tangible difference to our animals. There are a great deal of rewards in return for your donations as a thank you for your generosity.
TELL THE WORLD! (AGAIN) - A word goes a long way. If you're a blogger or have larger social media following, we would love if you told your audience about our project. Please make sure to share with us and tag us online: @farssanctuary #FARS #AllLivesArePrecious
HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF OUR UNIQUE REWARDS:
Why should I volunteer at FARS?
When so much of our working life bleeds into our personal life, it can be difficult to set aside time for ourselves and helping others. But if you’re passionate about something, making the time to give back and get involved can be really important to your personal happiness. Not only it is a mental break from the stresses of every-day life, but it’s also a rewarding and worthwhile experience.
Think about the things that matter most to you and what you’re hoping to get out of your volunteering experience. Are you a people person? Or maybe you’re crazy about animals of all shapes and sizes? If so, then volunteering at FARS may be the perfect fit for you.
Volunteering at FARS is a great way of meeting new people and developing new skills. You can become a shining light for disheartened animals, whilst improving your health and mood, and belonging to our caring community.
Animals have the potential to love unconditionally and when you care for them, you’ll learn valuable skills and discover aspects of yourself you never knew.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER SPENDING YOUR FREE TIME WITH ANIMALS:
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Meet the project team
As well as having a fantastic project team (who are all volunteers), we have an amazing group of further very dedicated volunteers who have been working behind the scenes. Taking on a range of jobs from shooting and recording videos, helping with project content to working incredibly hard, feeding and caring for all our wonderful animals with no additional help during the past challenging months. Despite all that, however, they have still shown a great energy and gratitude towards this project and we feel incredibly grateful for all their support as we truly couldn't do it without them.
Credits:
Carole Webb - Founder of FARS, Lenka Sobotkova - Project Manager, Sarah Dekany - Graphic Designer & Social Media Coordinator, Chloe Mia Ashford - Video Editor, Jayne Tutt - Administrator, Charlotte Champan-McNicholas - Photographer & Social Media Coordinator, Michael Berry - News Editor
With love and gratitude during these testing times.
From all humans and non-humans at Farm Animal Rescue Sanctuary
THANK YOU!! X
Calor Rural Community Fund has provided £5,000 of match funding
1st place in the Calor Rural Community Fund - £5,000 Category
This project successfully funded on 16th July 2020