Improve our wildlife hospital

Aim

Help us raise funds to improve our wildlife hospital

ABOUT BRENT LODGE

Brent Lodge Wildlife Hospital provides life-saving care and rehabilitation facilities to over 3,500 sick, injured and orphaned UK wildlife patients a year, from across West Sussex and East Hampshire. The welfare of our wildlife patients is our primary concern and our aim is to get them fit and healthy to be responsibly released back into the wild where they belong.

After starting as a small bird hospital in 1971 we now have the onsite facilities and knowledge to expertly care for and rehabilitate over 120 different wildlife species, including many at risk mammals and birds located on the Red List of conservation concern. 

Through our educational outreach work visiting schools, talks to community groups and raising awareness online, we aim to educate the wider public about the dangers faced by wildlife. Pro-actively advising people about the simple things that can be done to help wildlife thrive in their natural habitats. 

We receive no government funding, so we depend on the generosity of our supporters, donors, grant-makers, charity shops fundraising activities and legacies to generate vital income to keep running. It can cost us over £20 an hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to fund staff training, food, medication, veterinary care and patient welfare. 

OUR PATIENTS

We are coming to the end of another busy summer care season inside the hospital and the team are now preparing the remaining seasonal bird and mammal casualties for release. As we move into autumn/winter we will start to admit hundreds of adult hedgehogs who arrive underweight or suffering from respiratory infections. Many of these will need over winter care and treatments to ensure they are healthy enough to be returned back to their natural habitats.  Many patients will also be suffering from stress, dehydration, malnourishment and sometimes nasty infections. Once in our care they are examined and kept warm in our incubators. Some may initially need hand-feeding, fluid therapy plus regular observations while they stabilise. Patients suffering with serious injuries are admitted into our triage area for assessment. Here the team can determine the best course of action and decide a treatment plan. This will mean veterinary tests, a course of medicines and sometimes surgery to treat their conditions or repair their wounds.

At the beginning of this year we raised funds to install a veterinary treatment room and implement a veterinary nurse. The new veterinary facilities have now been in use for several months and are proving to be a huge asset to the hospital team. The animal care team, alongside the veterinary nurse, have been able to stich up wounds, assess for broken wings or legs and administer mild anaesthetic to free animals caught up in discarded litter or to those who are difficult to handle whilst awake. Our x-ray and minor surgery facilities are   giving the team the opportunity to treat animals on our site rather then transporting them on to our supporting veterinary advisors located several miles away. Having the ability to treat patients on site reduces the stress of moving, which could impact on their recovery and rehabilitation time.

Where possible we try to release rehabilitated wildlife back to where they were found as quickly as possible, as they may hold a territory in the area, or be part of a family group. Releasing wildlife back to the wild not only depends on when the animal is considered fit and healthy for release, but it also depends on the time of year. Our staff are trained to know what release site is most appropriate and sites are carefully chosen to give them the best chance of survival, where there is the opportunity to find a mate, flock, plenty of food, water and suitable nest or den sites.

REASONS WHY PATIENTS ARE ADMITTED

OUR FUTURE PLANS 

Thanks to receiving generous funding we have already constructed an interim treatment room complete with x-ray and intensive care incubators. With the implementation of an onsite wildlife veterinary nurse and equipment we are able to perform basic procedures and provide an onsite veterinary diagnosis and treatment service for wildlife casualties. 

We are also really pleased to start construction on our fully funded Patient Admission Building and Veterinary Facilities, which is set for completion in spring 2023. We aim to assist wildlife casualties admitted from the public, RSPCA inspectors, Wildlife Police Officers and Veterinary Clinics. With successful treatment and rehabilitation, we will release hundreds of healthy wild animals back to their natural habitats, increase local biodiversity and ensure local habitats continue to thrive with healthy wildlife.

Through the use of sustainable materials, low carbon energy sources, and rainwater harvesting we aim for the Admissions Building to be a carbon-neutral building. This building will make a real difference to the early diagnosis over wildlife casualties admitted into our care. To continue to provide effective care and treatment for these sick or injured patients we will need to keep improving our rehabilitation facilities to bring the overall site up to standard, which will require additional future funding.

HOW CAN YOU HELP US?

Our hospital site is very old and the some of the existing buildings are no longer fit for purpose. Over the years we have been gradually upgrading and improving our facilities to bring them up to standard. We look forward to having  our Admissions Building in place once complete,  but our existing hospital building is in need of improvement. We have plans in place to remove the roof of asbestos and install suitable tiling and PV Solar Panels. The solar panels will help us in our mission to become more sustainable and reduce outgoing costs for the running of the hospital. 

Sustainability is a key principle of the build. The proposals provide a unique opportunity to enable us to ‘go green’ and become carbon neutral. Environmentally, the proposed retrofit will achieve an Energy Efficiency and Environmental Impact Rating of ‘A’. The construction methods will use ‘fabric first’ principles to minimise the buildings’ energy use in construction and in use. The proposals’ starting point is the re-use of an existing building which has been proven to be structurally sound, and ripe for refurbishment. In this respect, a portion of the proposals are inherently sustainable.

As a charity, we value the positive impact that we can make. Environmental sustainability goes hand-in-hand with helping and releasing wildlife. This build enables us to combine two aspects to create a flagship example of sustainable rural development in the local area. We have been working hard over the last few years to implement real changes to help us become more sustainable, combat some of the effects of climate change and reduce our impact.

With your support we would like to improve our existing wildlife hospital roof to help us move forward with our plans.

This project successfully funded on 13th December 2022