Sussex wildlife rescue charity rescue ready thanks to grant

Sompting Wildlife Rescue is a family-run wildlife charity based in Sompting, West Sussex, which helps to rescue, rehabilitate and release injured, orphaned, and abandoned wildlife from East and West Sussex. They have been helping local wildlife since 2019 and provide medical care for the animals, offer advice and assistance to the public on wildlife rescue and care, and conduct educational programs in schools to raise awareness about wildlife conservation.

“Everyone loves seeing wildlife, but few people think about what happens when this wildlife gets injured. That’s why we have a team of dedicated, animal loving volunteers at the ready to help rescue, rehabilitate and then release wildlife that has found itself in need of help. We help hundreds of animals in need each year, from gulls with fractures, hedgehogs with leg injuries or raptors with illness and injury, but as you can imagine, catching wildlife isn’t the easiest of tasks! Our new ‘reach and rescue kits’ kindly funded by The Belforte Foundation, help us get to animals in need from all kinds of otherwise inaccessible places and a real game changer for us.” says Pete Foggon, Founder and Trustee of Sompting Wildlife Rescue.

“We recently ran a training session with the new kits for our amazing cohort of new volunteers, enabling them to be equipped to make informed decisions regarding difficult rescues while prioritising their welfare and safety - as well as the safety of the animals. We are so grateful to have such an incredible team of volunteers contributing to responsible wildlife conservation and ensuring the best possible outcome for each rescued animal”, adds Peter.

The rescue training session with Sompting’s newer volunteers covered a range of critical topics and techniques, just in time for chick season. The training included chick identification and assessment, which allows volunteers to understand developmental stages and determining whether human intervention is necessary, rescue versus rehabilitation, which informs volunteers which chicks can be safely returned to their nest and those requiring longer term specialist care, ladder safety and rescue techniques to safely get chicks back into their nests where appropriate, and safe handling and transport. Over 15 volunteers attended the one day training event.

You can find out more about the amazing work of Sompting Wildlife Rescue, what to do if you find injured wildlife, and how you can help – included with much needed donations, at the charity’s website www.somptingwildliferescue.co.uk.