Raystede News Archive; 2008
Raystede Christmas Fayre - A Big Thank You!
Many thanks to everyone, staff, volunteer and visitor alike who came out to celebrate our Christmas Fayre with
us on Sunday the 7th December.
Click the above image to enlarge as a separate window, and the below thumbnails to view photographs taken during the fayre.
'Raystede Report' film shows round-up.
Many thanks to all of you who came along to show your support for the work of Raystede,
during the screenings of our film show, held in various venues across East Sussex during
October. Thanks to you all, for helping Raystede raise nearly £1000.
Our “Raystede Report” film show held on Tuesday 28th October was a resounding
success this year. Thanks in no small part to our Bexhill Supporter Group, 41 people
made their way to St Peter’s Community Hall in Bexhill to see the latest edition of our
video diary. Morgan Williams was on hand to meet and greet as well as answer
questions about the film and the work of Raystede in general. Christmas cards were on
sale as well as other Raystede related goodies and of course tea and biscuits were
enjoyed by all.
Wouldn’t it be marvellous to bring more people into each of our shows? Bexhill
Supporters group are showing what can be achieved through local knowledge and a
group of like-minded supporters. If you would like to help by setting up a supporter
group in your area we would love to come and talk to you about it. Maybe you live in an
area that currently does not host a film show and where we might consider finding a
venue? If so please do call Nigel on 01825 880472 for a chat.
Association of Dogs and Cats Homes (ADCH) meeting – 21 October 2008.
Over 50 representatives of UK and Irish animal welfare charities converged at Raystede on Tuesday 21st October to attend a meeting of the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes.
Since its birth in 1985, the ADCH has grown immensely and now has four very productive meetings a year and arranges conferences every 18 months for its delegates and staff. There are now 51 members of the Association with new applications coming in all the time. The members comprise charities of all sizes situated throughout England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Channel Islands. The Association acts as a platform for identifying and disseminating information on best practice and for raising the standards of animal welfare.
Community Matters - Waitrose
Waitrose, Lewes have a new initiative to help in the Community, and in the month of September they chose Raystede as one of their beneficiaries. Each time you shopped at Waitrose you where given the chance to vote for Raystede and two other charities, or good causes, via a green token. So for all of you that shopped at Waitrose and donated a token to us, ‘thanks’ for helping!! Waitrose presented Nigel Mason our Chief Executive with a cheque for £289.40 when he visited recently. We would like to thank Waitrose for choosing us as their animal charity to support in the Lewes area.
‘A Harvest Festival for our Four Legged friends’
Children from the ‘L&H Club’, based at Little Horsted Primary School paid a visit to Raystede animal sanctuary in Ringmer, on Thursday 2nd October to present their special Harvest Festival gifts for the animals.
The children had all taken the time to assemble and make the gifts for the animals at the sanctuary and were delighted to be invited down by Raystede Chief Executive Nigel Mason, who gave them all the grand tour.
The L&H club is an after school facility at Little Horsted school, which is going from strength to strength.
It was set up by Tina Blick in 2007 as an ‘enhancement’ to the child care facilities already well established at Honeypot Nursery in Isfield.
The children all thoroughly enjoyed their ‘special project’ for the animals and Tina hopes to make it a regular activity within the club, bringing home to the children at an early age the importance of animal care & welfare.
World Animal Day at Raystede.
Raystede celebrated World Animal Day on Saturday 4th October. Despite inclement weather a good number of people visited in celebration of animals.
Guided tours "behind the scenes" were conducted throughout the day and were well attended. A special equine tour also took place and people had the chance to get close to some of the 25 horses, ponies and donkeys kept at Raystede. The Animal Protection Agency also attended with an information point to talk about their quest to cease the trade in exotic wildlife and in particular Parrots. Visit their website for further information at
www.apa.org.uk
Our small animals department headed by Leigh Forbes also organised a Rabbit Behaviour seminar during the morning which was very well attended and a great success.
Keep checking our website for further events and seminars....
GMTV visits Raystede.
The film crew arrived before 5am on Thursday morning to film in our rabbitry. They wanted to highlight the rise in Myxomatosis seen in several parts of the country. Myxomatosis is a nasty disease found in rabbits which is often fatal. It has been in the UK since the early 1950's and is seen mainly in the wild population. The disease can be spread by fleas, ticks, mosquitos and direct contact. Once contracted, the rabbit will have swellings around the eyes, face, genitals and anus. They are lethargic and become increasingly depressed and ill until after a slow and painful degeneration in health and often starvation, they die within two to three weeks. Whilst we can do little for the wild population, all pet rabbit owners can help prevent the disease in their own rabbits by seeking a vaccination at their local veterinary surgery. They interviewed a vet from Crowborough as well as our own rabbit expert, small animal team leader, Leigh Forbes. If you need advice about this or any other small animal subject why not give Leigh a ring on 01825 840252 or email her at info@raystede.org
Water Result!
Many thanks to a team from Southern Water who came to spend a day "in the field" at Raystede. Not only did they spruce up our organic gardens but they also made quite a job of clearing overgrowth from our wildlife pond. Cheers!
