Education & Training Centre

Wildlife rehabilitation is still a fairly new profession and cannot or should not be compared to most other animal work.
Dealing with and treating wild animals is very different to the way sick or injured domestic animals should be cared for. Colleges and universities are including wildlife modules in their curriculums more and more frequently and the interest in wildlife rehabilitation and the welfare of wild animals is growing at an incredible rate.

Over recent years, the number of requests for work placements at Vale have risen dramatically and we are getting enquiries not only from the UK but from all over Europe and other parts of the world. Many of these requests are for periods of several weeks but we are unable to offer these valuable learning opportunities because we cannot provide accommodation for these students while they are with us.

It is for this reason that we applied for and were granted planning permission in 2013 for the Education and Training Centre shown in the plans below. Not only will it provide the accommodation needed for students to attend Vale Wildlife Hospital on work placements, but it will give us the ideal facilities for us to continue and expand the popular courses that we are already running on a regular basis in our temporary lecture room. We are also hoping to be able to offer the centre to other local groups for meetings or talks, and to arrange for speakers to come in and speak about various wildlife and conservation subjects, which will also help to fund the running costs of the building.

Although we are uncertain exactly how much this project is going to cost, we are estimating a total of around £350,000 including furnishings and equipment.

We are very excited to have been awarded a grant of £150,000 towards the Centre by the Lilian Andrews Charitable Trust, administered by Allchurch Bailey, Chartered Accountants of Evesham. Lilian was a massive supporter of our work for many years before she sadly passed away a few years ago. The Charitable Trust was set up to help local animal charities and has already helped to fund our Hedgehog Unit which was built in 2012 to accommodate up to 150 hedgehogs. The Trust awarded £25,000 towards the cost of new, glass-fronted, easy clean cages for this unit.

We are hoping that work will commence on the building of our Education and Training Centre by the middle of 2014, and we desperately need to raise the additional £150,000 needed for the project. If you would like to make a donation towards this appeal, please send a cheque, payable to ‘Vale Wildlife Education Centre’ to our usual address or contact us here.

We must say a huge ‘thank-you’ to one of our supporters, Colin Walker, for designing the Centre, preparing all the plans including the detailed building specifications, dealing with the planning permission and approaching building companies inviting them to tender for the project. Without Colin’s help and the support of The Lilian Andrews Charitable Trust, this project would still be a pipedream.

Vale Wildlife Education & Training Centre

We have gained planning permission for an Education and Training Centre to be built on-site at Vale Wildlife Hospital.

Please help us to raise the extra funding needed to carry out this project by donating via the above link.