Book Swap raises vital funds

Last week, Jackie and Barbara noticed our food supplies for the hedgehogs were running low. It was Jackie’s weekend to work so she decided, rather on the spur of the moment, to do a ‘Book Swap’ at the Rollo Centre.

She times it inbetween morning cleaning and feeding and afternoon check and the washing. So, Barbara made a poster and Mike helped send it out on social media, all just a couple of days before the event.

We have a lot of books that were donated to us and no event coming up where we could sell them so the Book Swap was perfect. Bring in a can of dog food and swap it for a book or buy for 50p.

Jackie wasn’t sure if it would work but it was worth a go. The weather was fine, so a table was set up outside. Mike brought even more books in and helped set up.

At 11am, the first book browsers arrived. As is always the way when something is planned, other things happen.

Casualties came in during the open time but no-one minded. The sale was closed at 3pm and Mike came to help take down the table and pack up the remaining books.

Some buyers came and brought in extra books so Jackie thinks she will do another one if the weather is fine in a few weeks. It was very successful as we received more than 80 cans of food and raised £90.

On Sunday, we received even more cans of food from people who could not come on Saturday. Thank you to everyone who came and donated – it is very much appreciated. Thanks to Jackie, Barbara and Mike for their hard work.

On Thursday, Jackie and Barbara had to deal with a swan found at the side of a railway line. It was badly injured and had to be put to sleep. It was not a nice job for the girls to do but at least the poor bird did not suffer longer than necessary.

We are also getting small hedgehogs brought in. Please will everyone check their gardens before having a bonfire this weekend. The colder nights now will mean hedgehogs will start searching for a hibernation spot.

Take care when raking up piles of leaves that there isn’t a well-wrapped hedgehog at the bottom. Hedgehogs roll round and round in leaves to wrap themselves up and are not easily seen.

If you find a hedgehog and you think it is small, you can weigh it. If it is under 700 grams please bring it in and we will check it over. You can take it back if we think it will survive on its own.

If you can’t weigh it, or you think it may be sick or injured, please bring it in. We never mind checking it over. We would rather let you return a hog to where it was found, than miss one that needed a little extra time to get up to weight to hibernate.

We have a tawny owl in the Large Flight at the moment but we are going to have to check it out to see just how fit it is and how well it is flying. It hides away most of the day so it will be a case of getting it out of the box it hides in and making sure it is flying well enough to be released.