Would you like to help hedgehogs?
ELM Wildlife is the SW’s largest capacity hedgehog rescue based at Seale Hayne on the outskirts of Newton Abbot. ELM is a UK registered charity (1188486) run by the Parker family, it is supported by generous members of the public and has a capacity for over 200 casualties.
We at ELM are looking for volunteers for husbandry roles; the tasks for this role are as follows:
Food bowl collecting / cleaning, cage cleaning, animal weighing, reporting animal health, food prep, newspaper shredding, floor sweeping / mopping and then final checks at the shift end.
This is an active role with some lifting and bending so there is a need to be physical able with a reasonable amount of fitness, you need to be literate, able to do basic maths and once trained be able to work unaided. You will be handling wildlife, hedgehogs are prickly and on very rare occasions bite (more of a nip as they have small mouths), the animal safety and wellbeing is paramount so dropping an animal is unacceptable. We deal with all types of casualty so you would need to be able to cope with the sight of serious injuries, plus the sick and dying; we do try and shield the volunteers from this as much as possible but unfortunately this is part of animal rescue.
Apart from the above, you will need to be over 18, able to drive or have transport and have a Facebook profile/account. ELM’s volunteering is run through a closed Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/577165866143033 with an attached calendar and a system for booking shifts. To access the group you need you go to the above link and answer all the individual questions. For those not keen on Facebook and wanting to keep your privacy, we suggest you make up a fictitious name for your account, but the account does need to be visible so you will receive messages.
ELM is open 365 days a year with shifts from 10:00 till 13:30, the shifts may overrun but we do expect you to be prompt at 10:00.
We are sorry for the information overload but we do need you to be sure that this role suits you, our time is precious and we haven’t got time to train people only to leave. Although this is a volunteer role, we would like you to be professional in your approach to it. You will be part of a team and due to the nature of the work, any missed shifts or work not done to spec, will impact the team and the animals. Our volunteers are a fantastic bunch and it is always a good laugh at tea breaks; tea breaks always have biscuits or cakes.
If this does not suit you, please still follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/savinghedgehogs and please remember that we are a registered charity with all donations very gratefully received. As with many local wildlife charities, we are the people that actually rescue animals as avers to national ones who say they do. When you are next thinking of a charity to support, please think locally and hopefully we’ll be at the top of your list, thank you.