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| It's a bright sunny morning, and I'm off to the Fox Project Fundraisers Meeting in the village of Pembury. |
My favourite charity Fox Project has been running 20 years this month, and in that time they have rescued over 7000 foxes, but with each fox costing £100 to rehabilitate back to the wild the work is not cheap.
The last few months we have had to find £18,000 to fund next this year's cub season which starts around April time, but we are not quite there yet, so we decided to have a big meeting to bounce around some fund raising ideas.
I'll show you a few pictures .........
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| First stop ..... foxy information board ..... Nice! |
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| Oh ..... here's one of our foxy fundraising suits, I think it's the one my good mate Geeta wore at the Kensington Fayre when she was shaking her bucket! |
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| One of our foxy collection boxes ..... I really like this one, it has a little bell in it that tinkles as the coin drops in! |
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| Here's me putting my ten pence in! |
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| Oooo ..... time to start the meeting ....... better get to my seat! |
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| Here's me listening to my mate Trevor, founder of the Fox Project. He won't thank me for that photo ... hee hee! |
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| Trevor's big news was that, within the next 18 months, Fox Project will be re-locating to the Broad Water Forrest Wildlife Centre. |
We've worked closely with Folly Wildlife Rescue for many years now. Folly started the vision of the Broad Water Forrest Wildlife Centre back in 2005. It's taken 6 years to raise funds, acquire land and get planning permission for this fantastic centre.
Folly Wildlife Rescue and The Fox Project will remain separate charities, but working out of the same site they will be able to guarantee their long term future. Rescuers, staff and helpers from both charities are already great friends, so it will be fantastic for everyone to be on the same site.
Building work will begin at the end of this month!
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| Next ..... a little talk from our rescuer Terry who also runs Fox-A-Gon! |
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| Just looking at a few or Terry's products ........ GET OFF MY GARDEN !!! That's not very nice is it? |
Well to be honest ...... it is nice!
Fox Project are not in the business of living in fairy land ..... we are realists, and we know that not everyone likes foxes in their garden and that sometimes our furry friends can cause a few little problems like building dens under sheds and taking a poo on one's patio!
Terry runs a humane non lethal fox deterrent service, and has a number of tricks up his sleeve for deterring foxes from doing naughty things in your garden ...... at it's a damned site better than getting in one of those nasty pest controllers in who shoot foxes!
Shooting foxes is, despite being very cruel, a total waste of time. If you get rid of one fox another will move in to the vacant territory anyway. So you will have spent your money on a totally useless service!
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| If you've got a problem with a fox .... call someone like Terry rather than a pest controller! |
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| Next stop ....... tea break ......... I can't decide what cake to have with my cuppa! |
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| Having a quick look at the stall in break time ..... the foxy photos were taken by one of our lovely ladies who fosters our cubs. That's a job and a half ...... looking after the little ones! |
After the tea break we got in to groups to plan fundraising ideas.
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| Picked up a few collection tins ........ I'll get some labels stuck on when I get home. I'm gonna ask my mate Ivan, who runs my favourite cafe, if he will have a tin on his counter! |
I had the idea that you might like to help us too and have a collection box of your own ....... your help would be very much appreciated!
My favourite game is to pick coins up when I see them on the pavement ..... you'd be surprised what people drop and don't pick up!
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| I counted my pennies up early this year and discovered I had found £26.20 in just six months! |
But if you don't like picking up coins, you may want to put a little collection box on your desk at work.
I've made a collection box activity sheet, just click on the link and press print:
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| Simply cut out, stick on to a piece of card and follow the glueing instructions. |
All in all a great day. I met lots of new friends and we all came away fired up to raise some more funds and hit our cub season target!
Just a few more photos of the day .........
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| Think the ambulance needs a bit of a wash ...... anyone got a bucket and sponge? |
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| Meeting new friends! |
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| I won three prizes in the raffle ........ A candle which I gave to my rescuer mate Geeta because she liked it and wasn't lucky enough to win. A box of mugs, but I don't really need any more mugs so I'll give them to the charity shop at Foal Farm Animal Rescue when I next go up there. And a lovely owl drawing which I am keeping for myself! |
Last stop of the day ...... was to drop off some news papers and old towels that I had collected together, down at Fox Project intensive care unit.
Here's a few photos of some foxes that are currently undergoing treatment .........
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| Tuppence ..... she is disorientated and has a nasty tail injury. |
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| This poor girl has tail and leg injuries. |
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| And this poor fella has mange, dehydration and an injured front leg. |
Thanks for reading ...... Love Charlie Fox xx
