Help ELM Save UK Wildlife

ELM Wildlife, needs your help

Thank you for coming to ELM Wildlife’s GoFundMe fundraiser, my name is Rick Parker, CEO (fancy name for dogs’ body) and co-founder of ELM. We hope you like the work we do (pop over to https://www.facebook.com/savinghedgehogs to get a taste of what we do) and please consider supporting us, with your help we can save more wildlife.

I don’t say this to be dramatic, but unfortunately, it’s a fact. We only have enough funds to keep ELM running for possibly 6 months!

We had a crisis Trustee’s meeting the other day, with a review of our running costs/finances; sadly, ELM only has enough funds to run for the next 6 months. This is unfortunately a knock-on effect of last year’s uncertainty over closing, due to our lease issues (still ongoing) and a frustrating land search. This was all compounded by the loss of funding from ELM’s long stand benefactor and past Trustee; sadly, Neil’s wife Jeanne has a major illness, necessitating Neil to focus on Jeanne’s health. Our thoughts are with you both and we can’t thank you enough, for your years of support.

Above is a rendering of what we hope will be the future of ELM, we have some way to go, but we are gradually edging towards our goal; this will be a centre of excellence for wildlife rescue in Devon. Eventually the Pre-App for planning went in at the end of 2024, we hoped for it to be in earlier, but unfortunately got let down by original planners; we are now employing https://www.avalonplanning.co.uk/ , who are hopefully going to help us a little with costs. A very big thank you at this point to our friend’s and supporters at https://cocreate-architects.com/ who have been working for ELM pro bono and having to put up with my very rough designs/scribbles.

The vision is to take the expertise, youth, drive and support ELM has and take it to the best it can be; a purpose built rescue centre that can accommodate many species of wildlife casualties from Devon and beyond. ELM already has two paid employees and the hope is to add another two soon; these are complemented by our 160 volunteers. As a side note, Jacky and I have never taken a wage from ELM. The building will be 1000m², constructed of steel, with steel cladding, basically a barn structure. It will be as low as possible on the land and only single storey, so with this, plus the tree line, it will be virtually invisible; well okay, it’ll blend in well.

Going from our leased unit at Seale Hayne, with its numerous leaks in the roof, floor that can not be cleaned, no working toilet, virtually no heating, sub standard electrics, only a third of the lighting working, no outside space and a landlord that will not stop harassing us; it’s going to be a dream come true.

This is all very exciting and you would think we’re funding to build the rescue centre, this is not the case; if you’ve already watched the video, I’ve already given the plan away. We need to fund the day to day running of ELM, it’s no good building a new centre, if we’ve already had to close due to lack of funds; of course, if there is someone out there that wants to help fund the build, please drop us a line.

I have to say that I blame myself.

I do blame myself, because a leader needs to lead and the following may sound like a list of excuses, but I do try my best. I have a massive daily workload, with the running ELM and manning the rescue telephone line, plus any other task that arises. In trying to secure somewhere for ELM to lease or purchase, I took my eye off the ball and didn’t organise any running costs funding. As we are just a charity, not a business that does some charity work (CIC), we have to rely on public donations, bequests and grant funding, which we have not achieved as yet; the public / ELM’s followers are fantastic. To be fair it has been a horrible two years, with eviction looming and finally having to take legal action, plus the long slog of trying to find and purchase land. I was stretched to my limit; I wish I had more hours in the day, or help with all these issues, but I don’t. Jacky and I managed to get four days away in 2023 and one whole night away in 2024; it’s really hard to sustain this commitment.

The irony of all this is, that Jacky and I re-mortgaged to purchase the land we desperately need for ELM in May 2024, it was the most we could afford and after all that effort; we’re struggling metaphorically to keep the lights on at ELM. To be honest, we personally couldn’t afford to purchase the land, but we have fallen into the guilt trap; if we stop trying, ELM will close, jobs will be lost and thousands of animals will die!

So, the plan is.

Our plan is to raise the £100k to fund the day to day running of ELM for a year as mentioned above. This will help us in four ways.

• Firstly, the funds will help us keep ELM running for another year.

• Secondly, it will free up our time to concentrate on working through the planning process, preparing the land and looking at possible funding.

• Thirdly, if we have a year with £100k coming into ELM’s bank account, it will enable us to seek funding through sources that aren’t open to us now.

• Lastly, it will hopefully give Jacky and I time to tidy up our house and get it up for sale; this will give us enough funds to at least get the building structure in place. We’re hoping that we can get one section insulated and with enough services, that we can move ELM ASAP.

Why £100k, well as the wild looking bloke in the video was trying to explain; sorry I should have had a tidy up first and those were scratches all over my arms, the pleasure of working with wild animals. Historically the funding we have achieved, has been around the £60k mark; this hasn’t really been enough, so we’ve been dipping into the small reserves we have. The £60k funds rent, medication, vet bills, equipment and wages for two employees. The extra £40k is to stop us dipping into what is left and hopefully fund two new employees. The worrying thing is that the £100k is not really enough, especially with the hourly rate of pay going up in April; don’t get me started over that. I just thought, lets try for a nice, rounded figure, plus we’re not going to just sit back, we’ll be trying other ways to fund. The time given buy having extra employees, will hopefully get us out of this time trap, of not being able to investigate grant funding.

If I understand the GoFundMe pricing structure correctly, if you want to make regular donations, there is a higher percentage taken; I don’t know why. May I suggest if this is the case, you could either create a Standing Order into ELM’s bank account, or make donations under different names/accounts; what ever way you want, your support would be amazing!

I’ll keep developing the prize draws. It’s going to be tough, but with every pound you can donate to ELM, you will become part of the team and joining us, saving UK wildlife. For those who already support us and those who are going to; you should be proud of being part of the team. Thank you so much for considering ELM, as your charity to support.

A little explanation on small charities and UK grant funding, okay a bit of a moan

At this point, can I add a little about small animal rescue charities; I’m talking about charities like us. The ones that get their hands dirty and who actually save wildlife; I’d specifically say wildlife, as pet charities generally achieve more support, on the whole. People think we are government funded, we’re not and it is extremely hard to find grant funding for wildlife charities. The majority of funding is focused on people-based issues, which is admirable, but every sector needs help. I was amazed to find that some funders only allow you to apply, if the charities income per year is over £100k and you have the skills to work through the reams of questions/qualifying details. It costs a lot of money to have funding bids written, with no guarantee that this will achieve any funds. In 2024 we requested help from a local bid writing company and they kindly took us on as their charity of the year; this produced one bid written, that failed. Unfortunately, the actual grant funders overall, are tailored to the large charities and these charities have the staff to turnout and manipulate projects.

I can’t tell you the number of times people have said to me, oh we donate to WWF, RSPCA, RSPB, PTES, The Wildlife Trusts, Devon Wildlife and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society to name a few; as though, some of it finds its way to ELM. None of this money comes to us. Now obviously you must support whichever charity you want to; but I’m hoping after this you may consider ELM or small local charities, not the big guys.

Back story of ELM

ELM Wildlife was created in 2018 by the Parker family (Rick, Jacky and Emily) and has been run/manned by them daily, ever since; has become the largest capacity hedgehog rescue in the SW of England. ELM is what we like to call a proper charity (Charity Commission number 1188486), it is not a CIC which does some charitable acts or makes a profit for its Founders, Trustees or Board Members; every penny raised or donated, goes towards running ELM. Rick and Jacky have never taken a wage.

ELM Wildlife rescue and rehabilitates British wildlife, primarily hedgehogs but we do take other wildlife when space allows; we medicate and house all casualties. ELM admits 1500+ casualties a year, with an enclosure capacity at present for 220 animals (240 at a squeeze, but still not enough), ELM has grown into the SW’s largest capacity hedgehog rescue. We are supported by a team of over 180 volunteers and two paid staff members; with the centre manned and open 365 days a year. There is also a dedicated call line that averages between 60-100 calls/day and a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/savinghedgehogs (please ‘Like’ and ‘Follow’ us) with advice via the ‘Messenger Button’. ELM covers the whole of Devon, with regular casualties from neighbouring counties and utilised RSPCA, RSPB, Devon Wildlife and many Devon vets refer enquires straight to us. The rescue centres present address is Unit 5, Hayter Hames building, Seale Hayne, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 6NQ

If you care for the health and wellbeing of wildlife, please consider helping us to help them. With your help we will be able to help many more casualties of all wildlife species.

Thank you so much from,

Rick, Jacky & Emily Parker, plus our Trustee’s, volunteers and supporters.

If you are happier donating via the ELM’s bank account:

Name ELM Wildlife

Account # 749 532 73

Sort Code # 55-70-01