Taylor & Francis volunteers for NAWT – guest blog
Here at NAWT, we always look forward to welcoming corporate volunteers to come and help at our centres. We appreciate the hard work they put in, as it all helps towards looking after the homeless and abandoned pets in our care.
NAWT Berkshire had a special visit from Taylor & Francis, who have taken the time to put together a write-up talking about their day. Here is what they had to say:
On Thursday 7th September six of us from Taylor & Francis went to Trindledown Farm, one of the National Animal Welfare Trust centres, set on the edge of the beautiful Lambourn Downs in Berkshire.
We started our volunteering day with a cup of coffee and a tour around the centre. We were introduced to dogs, cats, alpacas, guinea pigs, rabbits, goats, and sheep. If you’re an animal lover like we all are it’s the perfect place for a volunteering day!
On our tour we were told about two rabbits, Flora and Fauna, who have been at the centre since June but still haven’t found a home. A few of us were tempted to take them home with us! Their favourite game to play is to see how fast they can make their bedding messy every time it gets changed, which made us laugh. If you’d like to rehome two furry friends, you can find them on the NAWT website here.
We then split into two groups for the rest of the morning with half of us painting a sheep enclosure and the other half doing some gardening in rabbit world. The painting went well, and we managed to paint more than we thought. Hopefully the sheep will appreciate their newly painted fence! The gardening involved lots of strimming and mowing, this was hard work but well worth it in the end. The tasks were rewarding, and we wish we had longer to do some more for the centre.
After a nice lunch at the café we then got to meet some of the friendliest dogs and cats! We met a good boy called Alan, who leaned on all of us for cuddles and was just so happy (his nickname is Happy). Alan was found on the streets as a stray. He is currently reserved so will hopefully be in his forever home soon.
We then met the lovely French Bulldog Mabel, who just wanted all the scratches and tummy tickles! She is only two years old and was used for breeding and then abandoned. She is currently undergoing a 7-day assessment, as all the dogs do who arrive at the centre. She will soon be on the National Animal Welfare Trust website.
Pat was the next dog we met, a beautiful ex-racing greyhound. She is very timid around people but soon warmed up to us after giving her lots of yummy treats! Pat has also found a home and will be leaving the centre soon.
We then went to meet four tiny kittens! They were only four weeks old and are being hand reared at the centre, they absolutely loved our shoes and playing with a tiny ball. We couldn’t believe how tiny they were! They should be on the NAWT website in the next few weeks. The centre is currently in a crisis, they have the most cats they have ever had at Trindledown Farm, with most of these being kittens that need constant care (and kitten food)!
Please do take a look at their Amazon wish list for a few suggestions for things you could send them to make the animals’ lives better whilst they are at Trindledown Farm: https://www.amazon.co.uk/registry/wishlist/U0V0JLV97LLV/ref=cm_wl_search_2
The centre is currently in desperate need of some kitten food in particular, which you can find on the wish list. Alternatively, if you’d like to donate, please see the donation link here: https://donate.nawt.org.uk/donate/
At the end of the day, we went to feed some sheep. One sheep called Billy greeted us with a very enthusiastic run down the hill towards us, closely followed by Penny who then took the limelight in our group photo! Another highlight at the end of our volunteering day, was feeding and then brushing the two goats at the centre. They loved us holding the brush and scratching their heads against it!
We had the best day at Trindledown Farm, and we can’t wait to go back and volunteer there again soon (we’d go back next week if we could)! Everyone who works there was so lovely and made us feel welcome.
Thank you so much to Taylor & Francis for taking the time to come and visit our Berkshire centre and helping us out. We can’t wait to see you again soon!
If you and your company would be interested in coming to Trindledown Farm for a corporate volunteer day, then make sure to register your interest by sending an email to td.reception@nawt.org.uk. We are currently booked up for this year, but our volunteer coordinator is creating a list for next year.
Alternatively, if you are interested but NAWT Berkshire is a little far from you, then please get in contact with your nearest centre here.