Heart-warming carol service at candlelit donkey sanctuary
At The Donkey Sanctuary’s farm near Sidmouth, visitors gather in a barn alongside the trusty animals for a heart-warming carol service
IT IS A cold, crisp and very raw afternoon in December. The day is fading and darkening towards night. But at Slade House Farm, near Sidmouth in East Devon, some 10,000 flickering ‘perpetual’ candles are brightening the gloom, flanking the paths and picking out decorative images. They are a sparkling promise that something warming and cheery is about to happen.
Already, there is a shiver of anticipation in the festively decorated Main Yard and New Barn. The strains of the Exeter Railway Band hang in the air. People and dogs are milling about, and there are dozens of donkeys. For Slade House Farm is the main site of 10 farms around the UK belonging to The Donkey Sanctuary, a worldwide charity founded here in Devon, in 1969. Every Christmas, for the past 20 years, the sanctuary has held a carol service among the donkeys. It is a heart-warming and uplifting occasion that attracts more than 500 people to the sanctuary, some comfortably ensconced in the restaurant, watching on screens. It is also streamed live around the world. The service was originally the idea of former office administrator Alison Stephens, who had seen a similar event elsewhere.
Meeting the residents
Maxine Carter is the farm manager at Slade House Farm and has worked at the charity for 30 years. “The donkeys that are present during the service are the 54 that live in New Barn, which is in the centre of the sanctuary, adjacent to Main Yard,” she explains. “They are used to meeting visitors, and they can stay in their half of the barn during the evening, or they can go into their separate yard at any time.” ›
New Barn is a huge space. Soft lighting hangs from the wooden ceiling above whitewashed walls, and already, with more than an hour before the start of the service, people are finding places to sit on the straw bales flanking the space. Donkeys mill about on their fenced-off side of the barn, wandering through deep bedding and sending up a warmly comforting smell of clean straw. Some nibble at the fodder in mangers; others lean over to investigate their visitors. There is a sense of expectancy and a buzz of conversation.
“We have approximately 250 rescued or relinquished donkeys at Slade House Farm,” says Maxine. “Our oldest resident donkey is Mabel, who is 38 years old. In the New Barn, we have a pair called Toby and Tufty, who are best friends and are both 23 years old. They came into our care in 2004. The youngest of the New Barn group is Thelma, who arrived as a foal in 2017.”
On cue, Toby and Tufty appear, side by side, to take food from the mangers. Visitors lean over to stroke their noses, Toby’s grey muzzle and Tufty’s white reaching out to greet them. Both sport red collars with their names and ages.
“This annual event is a lovely way of involving as many staff as possible at this special time of year, while also reaching many of our supporters, both in person at the service and via the web link,” says Maxine. “Our founder, Dr
Elisabeth Svendsen, known affectionately as Dr S, originally encouraged all staff and their families to join in, although the event was a lot smaller then. One particularly cold year, Dr S encouraged staff to keep warm by jumping up and down on the spot.”
Maxine’s favourite donkey is a 19-year-old grey called Jack, whom she has known since he was a foal.
“I met him when he was six months old. He had just been taken from his mum and had been bought by a private home. I was called in, as I was the welfare officer for Devon at the time, and the owners had contacted the sanctuary to say they had bought a donkey, and he was hard to handle. But when I went to see him, within 24 hours, he was just a baby missing his mummy. So we put in some toys and gave him things to do. His lovely new owners agreed to sign him to our care, while still keeping him at home, and they fostered another more experienced donkey from the sanctuary as a companion for Jack, so he could learn from this older donkey. They stayed there together for years before eventually both coming to the sanctuary. So I have been involved with Jack for almost all his life.”
Fostering a pair of the sanctuary’s rescued donkeys or mules is one way supporters can help. In return for love, care and attention, the donkeys will reward their carers with affection by the bucketload, and the sanctuary’s team of welfare advisers are always on hand to provide the support, training and free advice that new owners need. This way, problems can often be resolved before they arise.
Surprise gift
Not everyone has the capacity to have donkeys at home, but another rewarding way to help, particularly at Christmas, is to adopt. Ruby is a big, dark bay donkey, and Shirley Priest, here with her family, has just had a lovely surprise.
“I didn’t know I was coming,” she says. “They picked me up and brought me here, presenting me with an adoption package for Ruby as my Christmas present. It feels very special. I’ve never been to the sanctuary before, despite living locally. I didn’t realise it was so big; I remember when this place started 50 years ago, when it was a much smaller concern. We would see the donkeys grazing as we travelled to Exeter, and I always intended to visit. Now I finally have.”
Ruby leans over to Shirley, presenting her nose for a rub. Ruby, born in 2007, was bred to work on the beach at Blackpool, but having been hand-reared after the death of her mother, she thought she was human and was not suitable for the work, so was taken into the care of The Donkey Sanctuary, where she has become a very popular character.
Nearby, guide dog Albert stands patiently with his owner, Mark Wilson. They have travelled here from Taunton, along with Mark’s daughter Laura, and have visited the sanctuary before. “Albert enjoys walking through the fields and sniffing noses with the donkeys,” says Mark.
“But we have never been to this service,” adds Laura, “so we thought that it would be lovely to come back and have a
“And he told the Ox of a Manger And a Stall in Bethlehem, And he spoke to the Ass of a Rider, That rode to Jerusalem”
Rudyard Kipling, ‘Eddi’s Service’
‘dad and daughter day’ with the carol service.”
Here for the first time is Teresa Armstrong, who lives in Honiton. She is accompanied by her rescue dog, Ben, who is sporting a very jolly jacket, complete with tiny Santa jockey. Ben is clearly devoted to Teresa, barely taking his eyes off her.
“He’s 13 now,” says Teresa. “I had him when he was six. He came from a rescue centre locally, and I was his fourth owner, so he had a very unsettled start.” Among all the rescued donkeys, Ben seems very at ease.
“It’s such a lovely thing to do something positive for animals which don’t deserve some of the things thrown at them in life,” continues Teresa. “Just little things can help: Ben wearing his festive coat and making people smile or someone who puts a donation in the bucket. They are all good things to do.”
Also here, with her huge and beautiful rescued Romanian shepherd dog, Toto, is Sam Baker from Devon.
“It is an unfortunate fact of life that animals are often overlooked, mistreated or abandoned, when in fact they can give so much value to our lives,” says Sam. “From working animals, such as the donkeys that help families sustain a living in poorer countries, to a companion animal, which could offer a lifeline to an isolated older person. With love, care and commitment, animals can positively impact on our lives in so many ways.”
No applause, please
By now, hundreds have gathered and, perhaps surprisingly, there are far more adults than children. It is standing room only in the barn, and at the far end, the sanctuary’s chief executive climbs onto a raised platform to welcome everyone and to remind visitors not to clap. Clapping, to donkeys, means ‘get out quickly.’
Then the sanctuary’s chaplain, Stephen Knight, appears. Although ‘retired’, he is frequently called upon to take services locally and is closely involved with the sanctuary throughout the year.
Adorned in a bold red jacket and Christmas hat, with sparkly lights around it, he starts by giving thanks “for Elisabeth Svendsen, who devoted her life to helping donkeys around the world.” ›
“And his shelter was a stable, And his cradle was a stall”
Cecil Frances Alexander, ‘Once in Royal David’s City’
The carols begin, accompanied by the band sitting beneath a canopy just outside the barn. The donkeys’ ears prick at the sound of the singing. They look intrigued, but they are quiet and peaceful, relaxed in their deep straw. The inevitable Little Donkey is sung, and during Silent Night, roosting pigeons, high in the apex of the roof, awake briefly, fluttering gently, before settling again. The carols are interspersed with Bible readings from the sanctuary’s trustees.
Then, there is the reading of a Christmas poem, selected as the winner of a competition that took place among sanctuary supporters earlier in the year. Written from the point of view of the donkeys, the poem is a worthy and delightful winner.
And then it is over for another year. People emerge from the barn into the now-driving rain, some heading for the warmth of the restaurant and others for their cars, heads down against the winter weather.
The donkeys watch them go, hock deep in straw, cosy and safe in their forever home at the sanctuary. The tough times are behind them; their future is assured.
“Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days”
Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers