Wildlife hospital’s shops to reopen after eight-week closure
A Sidlesham charity which cares for more than 3,500 wildlife casualties every year is set to reopen its shops.
Brent Lodge Wildlife Hospital had to close its five charity shops in Bognor Regis, Havant, Hayling Island, Selsey and Worthing in March due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The hospital remained open to take in wildlife admissions but the shops are the main source of income for the charity.
Fundraising manager Asha Park said: “After eight weeks of being closed, we are pleased to announce that, from Monday, June 15, our charity shops will be reopening.
“Our shops generate the main source of income to the wildlife hospital and since the closures took effect the charity has suffered a huge direct drop in funds.
“With our busiest wildlife
care season underway and with over 1,500 wildlife casualty admissions expected over the summer the reopening could not come soon enough.
“The shop staff have been working hard over the last few days to ensure that customers are kept safe whilst shopping with us.”
The number of shoppers allowed into the stores will be limited and customers are asked to keep a safe distance from others.
Donations of household items are still welcome, but the charity asks people to call 01243 941779 before they drop them off so the team can make the necessary arrangements.
Brent Lodge is at the start of its busiest season and the first batch of seasonal sick, injured or orphaned wildlife casualties have been keeping the animal care staff busy as they treat and rehabilitate patients to get them healthy for release back to the wild.
Asha said: “We are kept busy handling 50-60 wildlife welfare enquiries a day via social media, telephone and email.
“With this number growing each day we are under pressure to keep up with the demand on our services.
“Out-of-hours staff are now on hand to answer the phone 24 hours a day and to take in wildlife casualties outside of our normal patient admission hours.
“We expect to take in hundreds more vulnerable wildlife casualties over the next few weeks.
“Volunteers are normally essential to the day-to-day running of the charity but due to the restrictions we are without volunteer support, so we are relying on the animal care staff more than ever to deliver the same level of treatment the patients deserve but with fewer hands to help.”
If you do find a wildlife casualty call Brent Lodge 01243 641672 for further advice.