• HOME
•  | 
• HOW TO HELP
•  | 
• HISTORY
•  | 
• WEBCAMS
•  | 
• NEWS
•  | 
• CONTACT US

Community Home

Don't miss this year's ball, it will be the best yet!

This year it will be our 10^th Ball and Auction and with the theme Rocky Horror Show, it’s going to be our best ever!

The Webbington Hotel will be transformed into Frankenfurter’s Castle to set the scene and you have the chance to participate in the Show; so you can come as Brad and Janet, the Transylvanians, Frank or Magenta – the choice is yours. Dress to impress, or dress to shock as it’s going to be a fantastic night!

A Meat Loaf Tribute band will make sure that the evening is one to remember so start practising the Time Warp and lose your inhibitions!! We will be supplying the props – no water pistols allowed!!

This Ball and Auction carries a warning!!!

Tickets are already being sold and we have had more interest than ever before. If you are a regular guest, we suggest you reserve your tickets now to ensure that you get to come to a night to rock, shock and raise money for wildlife.

Hope to see you there !!!!!!!!

To book your tickets call Jamie at Secret World on 01278 783250

It’s less than 6 weeks to go until the half marathon, and so the training has been stepped up a gear. We’ve done the Brean run again (blimey those are some steep hills!), and I’ve also done a few 3 mile runs with the emphasis on incerasing my running speed. Innitially I wasn’t too concerned about what time I ran the half marathon in, but now that my confidence is on the up in terms of completing the run, my attention has turned to the fact that in the last twelve months two of my friends have run a half marathon and both have finished in times of less that two hours. So of course if I can come in with a comparable time it will be a nice bonus!

I'm hoping the half marathon will be less painful than the JOGLE!

I’ve also done the five mile run again, this time in 48m30 which is a good sign in terms of my speed increasing. But, the highlight of the training so far came last night, when both Lisa and myself set of on an 8 mile run!!!!!! And we both finished it! I was really pleased to finish the whole thing without having to stop running at all, and my approximate time was 1hr 13 mins (I say approximate as I didn’t remember to set my stopwatch but I did check the time before I started my run). The time is pretty pleasing for my first 8 mile run, and at that pace (assuming I could maintain it for 13.1 miles) would be 1hr 59mins 30 secs…. so it’s there or there abouts!

I think the plan for the next few weeks will be one 8 mile run per week, and two other runs of between 3 and 5 miles… and then I think I’m going to try and complete at least one run of 10 miles before the half marathon on September 6th.

The other important update is of course that my justgiving page is very much live – thank you so much to anyone that has sponsored me already, and to anyone else who is thinking about it, even if you can only spare a couple of pounds it will make a difference to the animals that we are caring for.

If you would like to sponsor me, please click the button above.

Thanks

Jamie

Don't miss the miniature ponies!

Secret World again opens it’s doors this weekend (25th & 26th July) for it’s Hedgehog & Tortoise Event. As well as all the usual things to see and do, including wildlife talks, ferret racing, local crafts and much more, we will also be joined by some minature shetland ponies, some other, slightly larger ponies, for riding, as well the Chelnia Group who will be bring Eric the Giant Sulcata Tortoise.

Doors are open 10am to 4pm, Saturday and Sunday; we do not charge an admission, we just ask that a donation is made to the charity.

Eric the Giant Tortoise will be stomping around Secret World this weekend

A day that was meant to be gardening and ironing but there was too many calls to arrange pick ups for and also other maintenance to deal with.

 At least the young ducks were pleased that I wasn’t in the front garden as they were making the most of our ornamental pond. Luckily there’s enough weed not too worry about too much damage.

The young squirrel that came in very hungry and close to collapsing is much better. He is quick to poke his nose out of his nest box when we go

What's for dinner??

in to clean him to see what is on the menu today !

 The peacocks have almost lost all of their long train. They look a bit scraggy but in a couple of months that glorious tail will have regrown.

His tail almost gone........

I sent out a response driver this evening to pick up a baby rabbit which was actually a hedgehog. My fault – I got it muddled – it is the end of the day!

A really hectic day for the staff with few volunteers to help. We desperately need volunteers to help with the animals at weekends and evening shifts. Thank goodness that we have some students that have finished their courses for the summer and can help. Laurie is one of them and is a great help feeding the baby birds in the hospital room. We still have lots of baby garden birds, herring gulls (!), pigeons and collard doves needing feeds on the hour every hour.

Laurie, volunteer feeding the baby birds

Some of the birds needing care - Collard Doves

I went over to the Forest of Dean to visit Jane, who is a trustee, to help her move some furniture. She runs a rabbit rescue called Carrot Tops. With over 60 rabbits needing care, her house and garden is full and yet they are all kept so clean and each one given love and affection. So if you ever want a pet rabbit – Carrot Tops is the place to go with all rabbits being neutered and vaccinated.

Baby rabbit needing constant care

Blanco who has a lovely nature

 Natalie was doing the late shift tonight. This is her report:-

 “I only had one call on Saturday but this will make you laugh, we took the kids out to Pizza Hut and got a call for a buzzard that had been picked up by a woman on her way out for a meal in Yeovil, so she was in Frankie & Benny’s in Yeovil with a buzzard in her car and I was in Pizza Hut with the children! I got a response driver to get it from her and bring it to me, luckily we were just finishing up so I went out to the car park to get it. The response driver wanted his box back and we had left our box at home, so I asked the waitress ‘Do you have a box please’ She said ‘yes, for pizza’ ‘No’ I said ‘It’s for a Buzzard’ The look on her face was classic! Then I had to explain and she was more than helpful, poor buzzard travelled back in a pizza hut mozzarella cheese box!!

The kids don’t think anything strange of driving home for a meal with a buzzard in the car and stopping off at Secret World on the way back! To them it is becoming normal behaviour! Emily (rob’s daughter) did say ‘at least we aren’t stopping to inspect dead badgers this time!

You have to be a special kind of person to sort that lot out !!!

I can remember when Derek and I were travelling down to Kent with a baby badger in the car. We stopped at a service station by a Road Chef and it looked busy so Derek went in to see if there was a table available while I fed the cub ( milk all kept warm in a thermos ). He must have said I was feeding a baby to the waitress because he came back and told me there was a table we could have and when we went in the table was reserved with a high chair in place !

Unfortunately I was left in charge of Rocky, my son’s Great Dane. He came over when I went to put the otter’s food over in the enclosure in the evening. Rocky managed to find some nice smelly droppings to roll in. 8 stone of dog covered in sh** it no laughing matter and very smelly.

8 stone of smelly dog - Rocky