The Suffolk Owl Sanctuary is extremely lucky to receive help from a very dedicated band of volunteers… throughout all the seasons of the year! Without volunteer help, the falconry team would be unable to maintain the outstanding welfare and visitor standards which are the hallmark of the centre.
Supporters who are pet owners will know only too well how labour intensive and time consuming the essential care of any creature is… multiply that by 80 and you have a mammoth task which can only be managed with regular, reliable assistance.
We are continually indebted to many individuals who give up their free time to help to ensure that the sanctuary’s facilities are maintained in tip top condition. On occasion, we are also fortunate enough to receive practical help “en masse” from groups interested in donating time and skills to charities in general or our charity in particular.
This week we welcomed just such a very sweet offer of help from an enthusiastic group - from Lindt Chocolate, no less! Team leader Jackie introduced a seven-strong band of workers who proved willing to turn their hands to any task and so they were immediately equipped with rakes, buckets and sponges for a cleaning session down in the breeding aviaries.
They’re smiling now, but wait till they see the next aviary!!
As the name implies, these aviaries are used for birds to lay eggs and produce progeny in seclusion and with as little disturbance as possible. As a result, this special suite of aviaries had not been subject to the sanctuary’s usual stringent cleaning regime for the duration of the breeding season.
“Cleaning”, therefore, does not quite convey the true magnitude of the cleansing necessary after birds of prey have resided in this accommodation for several weeks rearing young! Nevertheless, the Lindt team proved to be a zealous and ebullient workforce and they powered through the “litter” in double quick time! In fact, our falconry team who were manufacturing new perches to refurbish the clean aviaries, had quite a task keeping up with them!
The team sped through the chores in double-quick time!
Particular mention must be made here of Louise, who travelled all the way from Northern Ireland to take part in this working party and returned thence after a sleepover in Suffolk… had she known she would be scraping “litter” off walls, she may have had second thoughts!
The Lindt BDT team, as this volunteer group is called, are a fun, hardworking and dedicated band who take great pride in their charity work, organising such working parties twice every year. The sanctuary is truly indebted to them for their generosity of time, industry and spirit and hope that they also enjoyed their “down time” after chores, handling some of the centre’s resident owls and sharing some intimate moments with the meerkats!!