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Ingatestone, Essex – Remus Horse Sanctuary’s final Open Day of the 2018 season will take place on Sunday 7 October and feature a whole host of entertainment for children including children’s entertainer, Magic Dave, face painting, many games, and two bouncy castles; musical entertainment will be provided by local band, Midnite Blu; refreshments of sandwiches and cakes (including gluten free) will be available all afternoon; a raffle, tombola, and numerous stalls will amuse the whole family.
However, it's not all fun and laughter at the horse charity near Ingatestone in Essex. The summer heatwave meant that grass everywhere struggled to grow and Remus, in particular, needed to buy in food throughout those many months stretching its already limited budget. As a result, its already forecasting a need for additional financial support to get through the cold winter months.
Founder, Sue Burton, said: “we’ve never been a rich charity but just as we get our heads above water something else comes along to knock us back. Our work here never gets any easier - rescuing a horse is expensive and normally it’ll either be in ill health or suffering some other form of trauma. It then requires extra medical attention, round the clock care, medication and specialist food. Our bills seem to rise constantly, and the cold weather brought on by the winter means extra heat and extra food and nourishment for both the ill and the elderly animals. You can see why people like us to a hospice!”
For those unable to visit on Sunday 7 October, Sue is pleading for donations to help with the task ahead,
“please help us get through another winter. I’ve given my life for the animals in our care at Remus, but we can’t continue to do it without financial support.”
Full details of how donations can be made can be found on the charity website at www.remussanctuary.org/donate.
Entry to the Open Day event on Sunday 7 October is just £4 for adults and £2 for children and the gates will be open from 1 pm until 5 pm at the Sanctuary’s premises near Ingatestone in Essex. Parking is available on-site, with disabled access, and dogs are welcome on a lead.
The Sanctuary has been providing rehabilitation and care for over 200 animals, including horses, ponies, donkeys, cows, goats, sheep and cats for the past 35 years. All of the animals at Remus are victims of physical and mental abuse, be it as a result of ignorance or malicious intent.
Naturally, the Open Days are a vital source of fundraising for the charity that, due to its location on greenbelt land, can only open to the public for a limited number of days each year.
Sue Burton concluded, “The Open Days are a really important to us, not only in terms of fundraising, but they also give us the opportunity to educate people about what we do here. Visitors will have a fun day meeting our latest rescues and learning about our many other successes.”
For further information, visit the website at www.remussanctuary.org or contact Sue Burton on tel: 01277 356191.
Injured soldiers rescued from battlefields in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria can arrive home for hospital treatment wearing little more than boxers and a blanket. And the numbers of British injured has multiplied in recent years. So a charity set up to give the battle-scarred some basic requirements, while they are treated back at home, has been working overtime to supply their basic needs.
Troop Aid gives servicemen just off the plane trainers, hoodies, macks, T-shirts, undies, razors, toiletries and a toothbrush and toothpaste.
Founder Albert Sutton, who was in the same regiment as Lee Rigby, created the charity almost 13 years ago after a chance donation.
He was in a British Legion bar in Birmingham with two friends and approached by a member of the public with £50 and asked what he would suggest spending it on for members of the armed services.
“I suggested sweets for the injured at Sellyoak Hospital, Birmingham,” he recalled. “We asked Cadbury and they gave us £400 worth.
“The staff there said some patients would arrive with nothing but their boxer shorts and a blanket. I said ‘That’s not good enough. They deserve some dignity.’
“That was just the start.
“Now they have three staff, an army of volunteers and the Prince of Wales as patron.
They have already supplied 13,000 bags of kit for patients at a cost of just £30,000 a year.
With the fifth anniversary of the death of Lee Rigby approaching, it is a good time to remember our injured servicemen by helping them with the basic necessities.
Albert was a soldier and officer for 38 years.
He said: “We look after all our servicemen and women after they return from wherever they have served their country in the world.
“We are very proud to be able to do this and we would love your support to continue this necessary work.”
16 March 2018
Mercy Ships is an international organisation that operates the largest charity-run hospital ship in the world. This incredible ship is crewed by volunteers who provide free surgery and medical care to some of the poorest people in the world. Did you know that two out of three people in the world cannot get safe, affordable surgery when they need it? Something we take for granted in the UK simply isn’t an option to vast swathes of the world’s population.
Here is a story about how Mercy Ships transformed one woman’s life in Africa.
Fanta has worked in medicine for more than 17 years, but she was afraid to have surgery herself to remove a 10lb tumour under her right arm. For 10 years she hid the tumour under draped shawls while she worked.
“How can I expect people to re spect me as a nurse and not be scared themselves when I am too afraid to do anything about my own problem?” Fanta asked.
Since she was a young girl, Fanta saw nurses at her local hospital in their uniforms taking care of people, and she knew she wanted to be a nurse, too. So she worked hard to achieve her dream.
But her melon-sized tumour made it difficult to work, and it grew relentlessly. Something had to be done, but she was afraid to have an operation.
Fanta explained: “My colleagues told me I would die if I tried to have it removed or if I left it too long. I saw the surgeries, I saw the blood, and I hated the thought of not being in control of my own body.”
But when she heard about Mercy Ships, hope replaced worry. After her initial screening, Fanta felt surprisingly at ease.
“The nurses at the ship were so compassionate and loving. They kept reassuring me that everything was going to be more than okay...and something in me trusted them.”
Fanta’s three-hour surgery removed more than just her tumour. It replaced her anxiety with hope.
“I can now lift my arms with ease,” she said. “I will be able to dress like the other ladies at my hospital. My husband has already bought me some new fabric so I can make more dresses that show off my arms.”
Transform a life today. Support Mercy Ships by visiting mercyships.org.uk or via icollectclothes.