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This is a project that unites the efforts of the Wildlife Care Badge and UK Wildlife Transporters and I have called it the: 'Wildlife Care United Effort'

OUR MISSION

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WE WANT TO ENSURE THAT EVERY UK WILD LIFE IN NEED IS SUPPORTED TO GET THE MEDICAL/REHABILITATIVE CARE THAT THEY DESERVE. THAT MEANS...

 

- Every wild life in need: we want to make sure that they get taken in by humans who are set up to best help them & to treat each unique case with the care that they deserve.

 

- Every wild life stuck, unable to get to help: we want to make sure they get to the help they need.

 

- We want to create an honest structure/community in which we humans are all supported & enabled to thrive: helping everyone to better serve wildlife.

A personal letter from me, Alana xxx

FROM ME, TO YOU...

 

"When I started UKWT back in August 2020, I had no concept at all that one day I would be drafting this presentation/proposal to play my (our) part in being of service to 100,000s of wildlife casualties and orphans every month and working for wildlife rights in the way that I am (and many others are).

 

I will leave this presentation to speak for itself. I have poured my heart into it (and hopefully proven that this is a thorough proposal and not a vivid dream). Since August 2020, I and many others have been happily dedicated to helping wildlife through the UKWT and the Wildlife Care Badge. Both are equally important and they have become very interconnected, as time has gone on. I think that we can make SUCH a difference.

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I am a big believer in 'prevention' over 'cure.' I hope to fund these plans (at least in part) by wilding up our world whilst we also help struggling wildlife (hopefully until they are supported by the environment itself and thriving and are no longer struggling so much). Thank you for perusing this presentation/proposal.

 

You are wonderful, Alana xx"

ACHIEVED SO FAR

The 'Vet Wildlife Support Package' has been offered out at the same time as Vet Driver Teams.  So far we have offered the VWSP and Driver Support to 1500 Vet Practices & over 60 have taken the VWSP (and are using it) as well as asking for Driver Support to help them to treat wildlife.

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ACHIEVED SO FAR

We transported almost 600 wildlife casualties/orphans to medical/ongoing care during our first almost 2 years (August 2020 to June 2022) . We also assisted approximately another 2000 members of the public to find rescue space and gave advice on how to provide high welfare conditions during transport, so that they could transport the casualty/orphan themselves, to medical/ongoing care... [SEE THE NEXT SLIDE]

ACHIEVED SO FAR

The WCB represents a united effort by UK Vet Professionals & Wildlife Rehabbers who worked together, for a year, and found a way (which was a great achievement as many were concerned that it wasn't possible) to assess Wildlife Rescues, in a supportive manner, to enable them to provide proof of high standards of wildlife care.

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The 'Wildlife Care Badge' map itself represents a GROWING list of UK Wildlife Rescues/Rehabbers who can confidently offer knowledgeable, high welfare rehabilitative care to wildlife casualties & orphans.

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With no regulation of the wildlife rehab industry in Wales, England & Northern Ireland, Vet Practices, members of the public & even other Rescues have started using this map to judge where it is safe to send wildlife casualties/orphans to, for high welfare rehabilitative care (rather than risking wildlife being given to well intentioned but

inexperienced people who lack the skills required to help).

[Being part of the WCB - a Badge Holder - also provides a safe, supportive & positive community that's already uniting UK Vet Professionals & Wildlife Rescues/Rehabbers around one common goal: the rights of wildlife to thrive.

 

As part of manifesting this new community, we have run 4 WCB Webinars, 5 Compassion Fatigue Support Sessions & have launched monthly meetings to support Wildlife Rescues/Vet Practices to best work together to serve our UK wildlife.]

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WHAT ARE WE DOING NOW?

Read on...

BACKGROUND OVERVIEW

 

Up to 3 out of every 10 wildlife casualties found in the UK can end up passing away purely because they couldn't be transported to Rescues/Vets/Rehabbers quickly enough/at all...

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UKWT was set up to fill this gap and covers the whole of the UK, making sure that Wildlife Rescues have enough Volunteer Drivers to send them out to pick up wildlife casualties from members of the public who have found poorly/injured wildlife but who can’t drive/don’t have access to a vehicle.

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This is still one of our primary goals.

 

Our demand has grown significantly since Vet Practices started asking us for their own Driver Teams to transport wildlife casualties/orphans for them, from their Practices to local Rescues.

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Then, running UKWT and the WCB led to its own set of challenges, experiences and realisations, all of which clearly revealed to us the reality of Vet Practice/Wildlife Rescue relationships (a good working relationship between Wildlife Rehabbers/Vet Professionals is essential to rehabilitate our UK wildlife).

 

Check out the next slide...

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DEVELOPING THE WILDLIFE CARE BADGE

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In running UKWT, it became apparent that the lack of regulation of the wildlife rehabilitation industry in England, Wales and Northern Ireland made it very hard to know which Wildlife Rescues/Rehabbers we could safely transport wildlife casualties/orphans to, confident that they would receive high welfare care (and not well intentioned but a complete lack of proper care).

 

What UKWT (and Vet Practices too, it turned out) really needed was a map of verified, high welfare Wildlife Rescues & Rehabbers that we could use to know where to transport wildlife to.

 

It turned out that lots of people wanted to see this Map/Directory come into existence and so the WCB was developed BY Wildlife Professionals FOR Wildlife Professionals.

 

The WCB was developed & launched by a united team of Wildlife Experienced Vets, Small 'Home Premises' Rehabbers, larger Wildlife Rescue Centres, General Practice Vets and other Wildlife Professionals. Efforts were made across various social media platforms to invite every Wildlife Rescue/Rehabber in the UK to be involved in the development.  A lot of Wildlife Rehabbers/Vet Professionals attended, with a CORE TEAM attending most of the meetings & developing the WCB Badges.

 

It was developed over a year of approximately 50hrs of Zoom meetings on every topic and (after many fine tuning revisions) it was launched in February 2022. The WCB has just celebrated its 1st year anniversary.

 

www.WildlifeCareBadge.com

"In running UKWT & developing/running the WCB (working with both Vet Professionals and Rehabbers) It became clear that...  The foundational structure for TREATING / REHABILITATING wildlife across the UK isn’t really properly in PLACE..."

MY EXPERIENCES RUNNING UKWT

 

  • Vets phoning asking for transport support (telling me that they had no real space on site for wildlife casualties and no real knowledge to treat them and wanting them to be moved out to a Rescue ASAP, for their own welfare).

 

  • Vet Professionals asking me for advice (assuming that I knew more than they did, running UKWT) on treating wildlife casualties on the phone (whilst asking for transport help).  I realised how little specialist training, through no fault of their own, most Vet Practices had, to treat wildlife (even though they were wonderfully & highly trained in other species).

 

  • Realising that most Vet Practices were either unaware that Wildlife Rescues weren’t regulated (therefore asking no questions of the Rescues who took animals from them) or were aware and so struggled to know who they could trust to pass wildlife casualties onto.

MY EXPERIENCES RUNNING THE WCB

 

  • Realising (through lots of conversations with Vet Surgeons & RVNs) that what a lot of Vet Practices wanted was to have a lot more support (both logistical and knowledgable) to treat wildlife in practice and then move them onto local Rescues.

 

  • We know that there can be very challenging (as well as very good) relationships between Vet Practices and the smaller Rescues and that mostly it’s about trust and both parties being fully aware of the laws around wildlife care and both parties having the support and time to build strong relationships, to best serve wildlife.

 

  • We know that most Vet Professionals want to help wildlife (and are wonderful people who care very much) but they are concerned about often having to do it for free as it would be very costly for the Practice, which does have to have a reliable income to fund staff & running costs.

OUR VET/REHABBER 'WILDLIFE SUPPORT' WORK THROUGH THE WCB…

 

We started off the WCB just by wanting to create a Map/Directory that featured Wildlife Rescues with proven high welfare standards.  That was our main goal and focus at the start.  (We also wanted to ensure that the WCB community of Badge Holders was a safe and comfortable space for Wildlife Rehabbers and Vet Professionals to network and support one another to serve our UK wildlife).  However...

 

It’s one thing to expect high standards of care from every Wildlife Rehabber (however small) who takes in wildlife but it’s not fair to demand high standards if they aren’t getting the support they need from local Vet Practices.Smaller Rescues (like the larger ones) need Vet support in order to get access to equipment and tests and medications, to efficiently diagnose and treat the wildlife that come into their care.

 

Equally, it can be very hard on any Vet Practice if local Rescues are too demanding (always with the best of intentions, to help wildlife).

 

As well as creating our WCB Map/Directory, it became clear that, to help some smaller Rescues establish higher standards (what really should be the minimum standards of care) to achieve the WCB Badge, we needed to offer support to both Vet Practices and Rescues to confidently work together to serve our UK wildlife.

 

A solid strong foundation of wildlife care in Vet Practices and Wildlife Rescues - across the UK - is essential to give our UK wildlife their best second chance, when they need it .

 

Of the approximately 5000 Vet Practices (across the UK) they can see between them, on average, 150,000 wildlife casualties/orphans a month, during the Spring/Summer months.  Supporting these Vet Practices to be set up logistically, knowledgably and financially to confidently treat and process and then pass on these wild lives (to high welfare local Rescues) will save many 100,000s of lives and ensure that Vet Practices (in the words of Vet Professionals themselves) are especially rewarding places to work in: also supporting the well being of Veterinary staff.

 

It is also essential that strong, trusting relationships between Vet Practices and local smaller Rescues exist, across the UK: enabling everyone to treat wildlife within the law and also ensuring that each wild creature gets the diagnostic checks that they need and the right operations and medications to give them a second chance at life.

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* (With the RCVS guidelines having changed and expected to come into play this September, Vet support of smaller Wildlife Rescues is now even more important).

THERE'S A FEW HURDLES TO JUMP TO ESTABLISH A HIGH LEVEL OF WILDLIFE CARE ACROSS THE UK...

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Read on...

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HURDLE ONE

 

  • ISSUE - Most Vet Practices have very little wildlife care training & aren’t physically set up (as a premises) to treat and process wildlife casualties and orphans, separate from their ‘pet’ patients. Their business models are also (mostly) not currently designed to treat wildlife as most members of the public aren’t offering to pay for each wild ‘patient’ that they drop off at a Practice. (This means that Vet Practices have to fund their own tests & medications for each wild animal that is dropped off by a member of the public. At sometimes 30 animals a month, this can really add up to be very costly).

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  • SOLUTION - We realised that we could help… We knew of a number of very wildlife friendly Vet Practices & Vet Professionals, who were helping wildlife in different ways.

 

The Vet Practices had established their Practices as both wildlife friendly and very profitable (they were successfully treating wildlife in their area and acting as an example for other Practices to follow).

 

The Vet Professionals that we knew (who were wildlife experienced and actually worked independently across a few different Vet Practices, they weren’t all based in one Practice) had united together to not only start their own Wildlife Rescue but also actively support ALL Vet Practices in their area to be confident in treating wildlife.  By setting up a Vet Wildlife Support Network in their area (making themselves available to offer advice when needed, on specific patients) they were helping lots of Vet Practices treat and save wildlife.

 

We knew that we could start creating ‘Wildlife Friendly Vet Support’ templates from these wildlife experienced, pioneering Vets and support Vet Practices & Vet Professionals across the UK in following their example: feeling more able to treat wildlife.

 

Every wild life deserves to be recognised & treated as a unique individual, equal in rights to us humans.  Our work is all about enabling that across the UK.

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HURDLE TWO

 

  • ISSUE - From speaking to Wildlife Rehabbers and Vet Practices across the UK, we have seen that some Vet/Rescue relationships are great and some are very difficult to establish or are broken down. Often, in the areas where Vet Practices and local Rescues aren’t working together brilliantly, it’s down to trust and communication. It can also be down to the Vet Practices in question not having their premises and procedures set up to help wildlife at all and feeling very challenged by the whole idea. It’s hard for smaller Rescues, who want to have high standards and offer the wildlife that come to them the best care, to do so without the support of their Vet Practice.

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  • SOLUTION PART ONE - We knew that we needed to invest some time in finding a way to help Vet Practices and Wildlife Rescues work together more efficiently. We are doing this by examining the very successful relationships that some Vet Practices/Wildlife Rescues have and creating templates of how the two parties work most efficiently together, so that other Vet Practices/Wildlife Rescues can copy their relationship, practices and protocols to build similarly strong relationships.

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  • SOLUTION PART TWO - We wanted to support Vet Practices to profit (become an even more successful business) from confidently treating wildlife. The solution here is the same solution outlined for ‘Hurdle One’: enabling and supporting Vet Practices (in very practical ways) to treat wildlife and pass them onto local Rescues.

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Every wild life deserves to be recognised & treated as a unique individual, equal in rights to us humans. Our work is all about enabling that across the UK.

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SO, I HAVE SHOWN YOU SOME OF OUR BACKGROUND WORK, EXPERIENCES AND REALISATIONS.

 

WE ARE NOW IN A POSITION TO REALLY UNDERSTAND THE  LANDSCAPE OF 'WILDLIFE REHABILITATIVE CARE' ACROSS THE UK.

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HERE'S A VERY DETAILED OVERVIEW OF HOW ALL OF OUR WORK/EFFORTS INTERCONNECT TO FORM A SOLID FOUNDATION OF 'WILDLIFE REHABILITATIVE CARE'  (NATIONWIDE)  AND WHAT STEPS WE NEED TO TAKE...

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HURDLE THREE

 

  • ISSUE - Some Vet Practices are very aware that the wildlife rehabilitation industry is unregulated across England, Wales & Northern Ireland. This can leave a lot of Vet Practices very wary of who to pass wildlife casualties on to. At the WCB, we have heard from Vets who feel like they face a challenge of not knowing enough about local Rescues to pass on wildlife to them: they also don’t know how a Wildlife Rescue should even be set up, to BE a high welfare Rescue. These fears can hold Vets back from aligning themselves with local Wildlife Rescues and trusting that they are not endangering their license by working with them.

 

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  • SOLUTION - The WCB was set up just to create a Map/Directory that featured Wildlife Rescues with proven high welfare standards. We wanted to create this so that there could be a map that Vet Practices, members of the public and even other Wildlife Rescues could use, to know who was offering genuine high welfare care in each area, so that they could pass wildlife only to them. Now that the WCB has launched and is growing, we have had reports from Vet Practices that they are finding the map useful to start to know who they can trust to pass wildlife to, in the local area. Vet Practices are also able to utilise the WCB to ask a local Rehabber (before working together) to get the RR&T Badge (with the Vet’s support, doing the Vet Visit) and so prove themselves of a certain standard in order to start off a trusting relationship between the Vet Practice and the Rescue, from the very beginning.

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  • And who wins overall, from these interconnected efforts? Our incredible UK wildlife.

 

Every wild life deserves to be recognised & treated as a unique individual, equal in rights to us humans. Our work is all about enabling that across the UK.

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ENSURING THAT WILDLIFE CASUALTIES/ORPHANS ALWAYS END UP IN THE RIGHT PLACE - TO RECEIVE THE RIGHT CARE - AND THAT DRIVERS ARE ALWAYS ON HAND TO GET THEM THERE...

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DRIVERS FOR RESCUES

 

At UKWT, we know from previous experience that up to 30% of wildlife casualties/orphans get found by members of the public with no vehicle or transport support. By recruiting, equipping & funding 1000s of UKWT Volunteer Wildlife Drivers across the UK, we are setting ourselves up to support every Wildlife Rescue (on the WCB map) with a list of Volunteer Drivers (fully equipped with carriers & disinfectant and that we fully fund expenses for).

 

It is our intention to make sure that Wildlife Rescues ALWAYS have enough UKWT Volunteer Drivers assigned tothem to call up and send out to pick up wildlife casualties. (No wildlife casualty/orphan should be left without help and without medical care).

'WCB MAP'

 

The 'Wildlife Care Badge' map represents a list of UK Wildlife Rescues/Rehabbers who can confidently offer knowledgeable, high welfare rehabilitative care to wildlife casualties & orphans.

 

With no regulation for Wildlife Rescues in England, Wales & Northern Ireland, it is essential that there is a way for us, other Rescues, Vet Practices & members of the public to know which Wildlife Rescues are safe & capable (not just very well intentioned but lacking experience/knowledge) to give wildlife casualties & orphans to.

 

The map represents Rescues/Rehabbers who have proven high standards: it features a mix of the very large UK Wildlife Hospitals (who can be trusted to operate at high professional standards) as well as Wildlife Rescues (of various sizes) who are Wildlife Care Badge Holders.

 

Find out about the WCB at www.WildlifeCareBadge.com

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(If a Wildlife Rescue/Rehabber isn't on this map, that doesn't mean that they aren't great or brilliant Rehabbers: it just means that they haven't proven their standards of rehabilitative care, to be featured on the WCB map yet).

ENSURING THAT VET PRACTICES ARE ALWAYS SUPPORTED TO GIVE WILDLIFE CASUALTIES/ORPHANS THE CARE THEY NEED, TO HOPEFULLY GET THEIR SECOND CHANCE...

DRIVERS FOR VET PRACTICES

 

It can be very difficult for busy Vet Practices to treat wildlife casualties (and not just euthanase on arrival) because the casualty will always need to be moved onto a Rescue Centre for longer term rehab afterwards.

 

By providing Vet Practices with their own list of local Volunteer Transport Drivers (recruited, equipped & funded by UKWT) we support Vets to treat wildlife and then move them out of the Practice site instead of thinking that their only logistical option is to ‘Put To Sleep.’

 

With approximately 5000 Vet Practices in the UK seeing an average of 30 wild patients a month each - during the Spring/Summer - we hope to be supporting the successful treatment and processing of 3000 wildlife casualties/orphans a month by 2024 (supporting 100 Vet Practices) and 150,000 wildlife casualties/orphans a month by 2028 (when we hope to be supporting the full 5000 Practices).

VET WILDLIFE SUPPORT PACKAGE

 

When the Wildlife Care Badge was in development, it became known - through discussions - that a number of the wildlife specialist Vet Professionals who were contributing to the WCB had also created helpful 'How To Guides' to specifically support 'General Practice Vets' in Practices to treat wildlife casualties. These 'How To Guides' (pdfs and videos) have been united into the 'Vet Wildlife Support Package'.

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As most Vets leave school with minimal wildlife training (and each wild species requires specialist care) making the VWSP accessible/available nationwide is already making a huge difference to many wild lives: it is already starting to ensure that 1000s of wildlife casualties (who are dropped into Vets Practices, by members of the public) are successfully treated instead of being euthanased due to lack of knowledge.​

TO SUPPORT ALL WILDLIFE CARERS IN LOOKING AFTER THEMSELVES  & ENABLING THEM WITH ANY SUPPORT/INFO THEY MIGHT NEED  TO BEST LOOK AFTER OUR UK WILDLIFE...

COMPASSION FATIGUE SUPPORT SESSIONS

 

[THESE ARE CURRENTLY FUNDED BY WILDER MINDS CIC]

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Losing casualties is inevitable (for Wildlife Rehabbers or Vet Professionals) but each one can leave a mark. Stored up stress and feeling like they are battling alone and without anyone to share the struggle with isn’t good for Wildlife Carers or the wildlife they care for.

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We have already run a few CF Support Sessions - with great feedback - and now we are running 6 months of them, every week, to play our part to support UK Wildlife Carers.

WILDLIFE CARE BADGE WEBINARS

 

The WCB has held 4 professional ‘Wildlife Educational’ Webinars/Q&As so far, uniting & benefitting Vet Professionals & Wildlife Rehabbers alike.

 

Between 27 - 50 Vet Professionals & Wildlife Rehabbers have attended each webinar.

 

The Webinars focus on supporting Vet Professionals & Wildlife Rehabbers to do what they do best: help our UK wildlife.

 

We are organising 6 more Webinars for 2023, featuring experts in each field.  The Webinars are free for everyone to attend.

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The feedback from all of the Webinars has been brilliant so far and the next wave of Webinars also features experts offering advice on how Wildlife Rescue can specifically access grant funding & sponsorship funding, during this difficult time.

NEXT, I AM GOING TO OUTLINE THE STAFFING ROLES THAT WE NEED TO FILL, TO BE OF BENEFIT TO THE 100,000S OF WILD LIVES THAT WE WANT TO HELP...

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ENSURING THAT VET PRACTICES & WILDLIFE REHABBERS HAVE THE BEST STRUCTURES, PROCESSES & RELATIONSHIPS (BETWEEN THEM) TO BEST HELP THE WILDLIFE WHO COME TO THEM FOR CARE...

VET WILDLIFE SUPPORT NETWORK

 

This is a group - WITH REGULAR MEETINGS -  for Vet Professionals to create a supportive network so that the more wildlife experienced Vet Professionals in the network can be accessible and available to offer advice (either urgent or general) to those who would benefit from support, when wildlife casualties are dropped into Practices.

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In Nottingham there is an informal & successful regional network where the more wildlife experienced Vet Professionals make themselves available &  accessible to offer remote advice to the staff at less wildlife experienced Vet Practices, so that local wildlife are helped as much as possible in the area (and so that everyone also feels supported in their wildlife efforts).

 

It has been wondered whether this could be a template that can be replIcated across the UK, with Vet Professionals supporting one another to help them to treat wildlife?

 

This group has already begun the process of helping Vet Practices & Professionals support one another and have the knowledge they need on how to best treat and process the wildlife casualties/orphans who come to them.

WILDLIFE PROFESSIONALS UNITED

 

This is a group - WITH REGULAR MEETINGS - uniting Vet Professionals and Rehabbers to see if there are any logistical templates that can be set up to help Vet Practices and their local Wildlife Rescues work better together, to help wildlife.

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Our first meetings have seen the launch of some template 'hospital admission & processing sheets' to benefit Vet Practices & the Rescues working with them and we are also developing a template to help Vet Practices cope financially with the pressure of treating wildlife in Practice, as it can be time consuming as well as costly with regards to medications.

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I am setting myself up with a salary at £12 per hour (like everyone else) for 40hrs a week.  (I'll be putting a good few hours extra on top of that but those will be my 'volunteer' hours.

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As well as creating our WCB Map/Directory, it became clear that, to help some smaller Rescues establish higher standards (what really should be the minimum standards of care) to achieve the WCB Badge, we needed to offer support to both Vet Practices and Rescues to confidently work together to serve our UK wildlife.

 

My role will be:

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My role is in overseeing, growing & running the WCB and UKWT and ensuring that the other staff are comfortable in their roles & achieving the monthly targets (to keep us on track for our yearly and 5 yearly goals, to support/save as many wild lives as need us).

 

I'll be overseeing the Games Festival, the Wild Money Pot & our other funding schemes (making sure that we always have the income we need to fund our efforts & be a reliable service for wildlife).

 

I'll dedicate time each week to brainstorming Driver Recruitment Campaign ideas with the dedicated staff member, for them to then put into practice.

 

I'll commit time each week to Driver Support meetings (to keep up with the well being of all of our Volunteer Drivers).

 

As part of growing/running the WCB I will be overseeing Vet Professional/Rehabber meetings and processing WCB Holder applications (plus much more)!

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MY ROLE...

FREELANCE STAFF ROLES

DRIVER SUPPORT OFFICER

 

Tasks:

 

The DSO will be in charge of monitoring the Volunteer Drivers Database for new Drivers, organising getting them set up with carriers & disinfectant & then asking them (using the maps that I will be keeping up to date) which Vet Practices & local Rescues they would like to drive for.  They will also be checking in with all Drivers every Friday to ask which transport jobs everyone has done that week so that we can publicly thank them in the UKWT Facebook Group.

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£12 PER HOUR 16HRS A WEEK

DRIVER SUPPORT OFFICER

WCB ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICER

 

Tasks:

 

As part of the ongoing welfare checks for the WCB Holders, Badge Holders submit paperwork every 2 months.This staff role will be ensuring that all paperwork is submitted in full and on time.

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£12 PER HOUR 5HRS A WEEK

WILDLIFE ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICER

VET SUPPORT OFFICER

 

Tasks:

 

The VSO will be in charge of finishing the building of our UK Vet Practices Database (listing every Vet Practice in the UK) as well as offering them Volunteer Drivers and the Vet Wildlife Support Package.  They will get all GDPR documents signed too.

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£12 PER HOUR 8HRS A WEEK

VET SUPPORT OFFICER

DRIVER RECRUITMENT OFFICER

 

Tasks:

 

Brainstorming Volunteer Driver Recruitment Campaign ideas and putting them into practice.  We intend to recruit 1000s of Wildlife Volunteer Drivers across the UK, to always be a safety net for any of our UK wildlife who might be temporarily struggling.

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£12 PER HOUR 16HRS A WEEK

DRIVER RECRUITMENT OFFICER

* When I first realised that we had to hire staff in order to fulfil our goals to be of service to our UK wildlife ('no wild life left without care') I was very nervous & a bit reluctant to accept it.  Then I looked at it from a different perspective: not only are we setting ourselves up to act as a safety net for every wild life that might otherwise be stuck without the care that they deserve (as part of our work is filling in the gaps for all of the other great organisations out there, who we are supplementing in our efforts) but we were ALSO creating opportunities for human beings (who might be struggling to find work elsewhere or who might be looking to supplement their income, during this tricky time) to look after themselves by looking after our wildlife.

PREDICTED IMPACT PER POUND...

TOTAL MONTHLY STAFFING COSTS

 

£1,020 a week / £4386 a month in salaries.

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[We need to fund our monthly running costs too - website, phone, email, map software & insurance etc - which will come to up to £500 a month]

 

(We will raise donations - as and when needed  - to fund carriers, disinfectant & fuel).

DRIVER SUPPORT OFFICER

 

For the £826 a month in a salary to fund a DSO, they will be impactful in getting every new Driver that appears in our database equipped and ready to answer calls and be on the road ASAP, saving wild lives.  We intend to be serving 100 Vet Practices by the end of 2024 (helping approximately 30 animals per Practice, per month, in the busier months) and we are already offering Driver Support to over 30 Wildlife Rescues.  

 

Our prediction is that, in getting new Drivers organised and driving for Practices & Rescues ASAP, the DSO role will be supporting between 3000 - 3500 animals a month, for their salary of £826.

 

They will also be supporting our Drivers by enabling us to find out about the transport jobs that they undertook that week, to thank them publicly.

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It is very important to us that our Drivers are valued and appreciated by us all and by our UKWT online community.  In thanking our Drivers, we also get to share about the animals they helped and perhaps each get inspired by new ideas to support wildlife in our local area.

DRIVER RECRUITMENT OFFICER

 

For the £826 a month in a salary to fund a DRO, they will be impactful in recruiting (as part of our 5 year plan) 1000s of Volunteer Wildlife Drivers so that NO wild life is ever left stuck without the care and (hopefully) the second chance that they deserve.

 

By the end of 2024, our intention is that myself (Alana) and the DRO will have recruited a few 100 new Volunteer Wildlife Drivers to allocate to 100 Vet Practices as well as Wildlife Rescues, to help play our part in supporting them to treat and rehabilitate 1000s of wildlife casualties every month.

 

Without Drivers, we can't help every wild life stuck inside a home/workplace, unable to get to medical care.  We also can't support Vet Practices in treating & then moving on wildlife casualties/orphans.  Transport is a simple but vital part of wildlife care.

 

With everyone busier these days (or feeling more under financial pressure) we have seen volunteer numbers drop: new Drivers are less easy to access and get in front of.  We need a dedicated officer who can commit themselves to finding the Volunteer Drivers so that they can save lives, being the incredible humans and volunteers that they are.

VET SUPPORT OFFICER

 

For the £413 a month in salary to fund a VSO, they will be impactful by offering all approximately 5000 Vet Practices in the UK the Vet Wildlife Support Package AND offering them a team of Volunteer Wildlife Drivers.

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Each Vet Practice, on average, sees around 30 wildlife casualties/orphans a month each, during the busier months.By the end of 2027 (as per our 5 year goal) we hope to be supporting the treatment and second chance of 150,000 wild lives a month, during the Spring/Summer months.  It will have been the VSO who played a large part in us offering that support.

 

In offering the VWSP (the 'How To Guide's for Vets to treat wildlife in Practice) we will also be helping Vets to treat wildlife (before moving them on) instead of perhaps feeling that euthanasia is their only high welfare option, due to lack of knowledge.

VET SUPPORT OFFICER

 

For £258 a month in a salary, this role in supporting wildlife rehabilitative care standards is absolutely essential.

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As part of the Wildlife Care Badge requirements, Badge Holders submit regular paperwork: Admission Records, Case Studies and proof of a continued, good working relationship with a Vet.

 

This accountability procedure has proven the most important part of WCB welfare checks: even more important than the knowledge assessment or the Vet Visit of the premises.

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By the submission of these records, we have been able to offer greater support to Badge Holders with high numbers of casualties and ensure that medication records and proper procedures are being maintained, even during the crazy Spring/Summer months.

 

We try to make the WCB as supportive a community as possible, therefore we have found that we need to support Badge Holders in getting used to the new patterns of submitting paperwork or asking for greater support from us: transport and otherwise.  (It only takes 10 minutes a month to submit the paperwork but everyone is still getting used to it).

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We have tried to fulfil this role through Volunteers but it's quite a demanding role and we need a reliable, organised, paid member of staff who can dedicate themselves to the task.

IMPACT

FUNDING IDEAS...

 

"I AM A BIG BELIEVER IN 'PREVENTION' OVER 'CURE.' I HOPE TO FUND THESE PLANS (AT LEAST IN PART) BY WILDING UP OUR WORLD WHILST WE ALSO HELP STRUGGLING WILDLIFE (HOPEFULLY UNTIL THEY ARE SUPPORTED BY THE ENVIRONMENT ITSELF AND THRIVING AND ARE NO LONGER STRUGGLING SO MUCH)..."

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VOLUNTEER WILDLIFE DRIVERS

 

Volunteer Wildlife Drivers are the life blood of UKWT (providing a safety net for wildlife casualties and orphans, nationwide).

 

We would love to be able to pay Drivers a salary but that would require every Driver to have an animal husbandry license & I don't think we could keep up with the costs.

 

The role of every Volunteer Wildlife Driver is...

 

To have 2 carriers (one small, one large) as well as disinfectant & towels and a hot water bottle (to use when specifically told to).  We will help organise & even fund these.

 

To be happy to be assigned to local (proven, high welfare) Wildlife Rescues and Vet Practices.

 

To be happy to be called or otherwise contacted when an animal needs transporting.  In EVERY case, if it is not convenient for a Driver to take the transport job, they can say 'No.'  The idea is that there will always be a large enough pool of Drivers for a Vet Practice or Rescue to ask, that someone will be free to say 'Yes.'

 

Volunteer Wildlife Drivers can have all fuel reimbursed for any/all transport jobs (on behalf of the Rescues and Vet Practices that they are assigned to).​

 

I am organising benefits & prizes to be able to thank our Volunteer Wildlife Drivers.  Every Driver is incredibly important and has always been (& will always be) treated as a valued member of our team.  Without Drivers, UKWT was only ever a dream.  It's the Volunteer Wildlife Drivers who have saved so many lives so far and (I hope) will continue to do so, as we put the plans in this presentation into action.

FUNDING PLANS

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LAUNCH / PRIZE GIVING

 

As well as co-founding the WCB and founding UKWT, I have also written this new E-Handbook.

 

As the website especially launched to promote ‘Our Planet - A Love Story’ states…

 

This E-Handbook is a comprehensive examination (300 pages) of the questions that I touch on in my blog, 'Our Planet (Honest Observations)'....  

 

"What if we are born to fully thrive as one whole planet, all of us born wild and free and enabled to share our lives better, together, no matter ‘what’ or ‘who’ we are, as we are all one planetary community, together, whatever creature (animal, botanical, mineral etc) we are…?"

 

And...  "What if our planet births us all as wild, empowered creatures, all here as part of a planet that is aware of itself, observes itself, interacts with itself, relates to itself & even feeds off itself (and more)?"

 

Every penny of profit from this handbook is going to be used to help humans & all other wild creatures thrive, globally & locally.

 

You can win one of three ‘wild’ prizes when you preorder this E-Book.  The £13365 raised from the first 1500 sales of this handbook will be put towards our UKWT fundraising effort.

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'WILDLIFE FIRST AID OFFICER' ONLINE COURSE

 

Wildlife casualties need help urgently when found and it's surprising how many people find a wildlife casualty on the way to work or even on the work place premises itself.

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Equally...  At least half of the calls to Wildlife Rescues about poorly/orphaned wildlife casualties are from people who have found these animals in their garden and need urgent advice on how to help them.

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Having an allocated 'Wildlife First Aid Officer' in your work place or at home (as well as the right equipment and a bespoke list of your nearest Wildlife Rescues & Vet Practices) ensures that you're set up to know exactly how to help a wildlife casualty.  You will be able to help them within minutes (instead of it sometimes taking days to find help) minimising any disruption to your day as well as giving you the best chance to save that furry/feathery/spiky life.

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This online 1hr group course (for a fee of £30 for any companies or home owners/renters who want to attend) runs every Wednesday evening at 19:00. (The income from these courses will be donated from WW to fund our new staff roles & our running costs).

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'I LOVE OUR UK WILDLIFE'

 

There are 6 designs available (each) for these desktop & phone digital wallpaper images.

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They are available for immediate download at our Ko-Fi Wild Living Digital Shop at £3 each (all income going towards this emergency fundraiser).

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Extra FUN bonus...  When we sell 1000 'wall papers' I will email everyone who has purchased one and invite them to send me a selfie: I'll upload them all to make up an 'I Love Our UK Wildlife' digital mosaic wall paper (for desktop and phone) to be gifted free to everyone whose selfie is featured, as a special 'thank you'.

DONATE TO SUPPORT STAFF

 

Our work is incredibly important and - whilst we don't want to JUST ask for donations - we do want to invite support from anyone who believes in our work and would just like to support our efforts.  For anyone who donates to support staff & running costs, there will be a monthly newsletter letting you know what we are achieving with your support.

EMERGENCY FUNDRAISING EFFORT….

 

(I want us playing our part to support over 3000 wild lives a month to get the medical & rehabilitative care that they need, during Spring/Summer 2024)…

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My plan is to secure enough reliable funding (a minimum of £5000 a month, to cover running and staff costs) so that we can hire freelance staff and meet our 2024 target, to play our part in serving our UK wildlife, throughout all of Spring/summer 2024. (This means that we are actively supporting Vet Practices & Wildlife Rescues during at least a few of the busiest months of the year).

 

Once I have raised this £30K, am I going to be fundraising again in 6 months time?  No... I have a whole funding plan laid out to set up over the next 6 months BUT we need to be up and running and offering both proof of services AND other bits of proof of how important what we do is, to get this funding long term. It's a catch 22: we need the funding short term, to secure funding for the very long term.

 

We are fundraising in the following ways…

 

 

  • My new handbook, 'Our Planet - A Love Story' is part of a promotion to raise £13,365 towards our staffing costs.

 

  • We are running Online Fundraising Events.

 

  • If Donors want to (very kindly and generously) commit to sponsoring some ‘working hours’ for us: then we can know that we have that funding in the bank to fund a number of staff hours.

 

  • Our Ko-Fi Wild Living Digital Shop is part of a big UKWT promotion.

GOALS...

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OUR GOALS FOR 2024

 

With 100 Vet Practices already asking  for transport support (to help them to treat and process wildlife) we hope to be supporting the successful treatment and processing of 3000 wildlife casualties/orphans a month by 2024 (supporting 100 Vet Practices who see an average of 30 casualties a month each, during Spring/Summer).

 

By the end of 2024 we want to have offered - by email - the Vet Wildlife Support Package to every one of the approximately 5000 Vet Practices in the UK (helping them to help wildlife).  We have currently offered it to over 1500 Vet Practices.

 

Through the WCB, we want to have expanded our map of proven Wildlife Rescues (more WCB Holders are currently being processed through the necessary steps) & to have helped build stronger relationships between Wildlife Rescues and Vet Practices, founded on much greater trust & understanding (nationwide).  We also intend for every one of the WCB Holders on our map to also have their own team of UKWT Drivers, so that no wildlife casualty/orphan is ever left without the care that they need/deserve.

 

We are also holding at least 6 more FREE WCB Webinars - supporting both Wildlife Rehabbers & Vet Professionals -  focusing on securing grant/sponsorship funding, the importance of  PPE and biosecurity, as well as looking at the professional structuring of  'Hub Rescues' to offer high welfare wildlife care versus the setting up of a Wildlife Centre.

 

We are also offering FREE Compassion Fatigue Support Sessions every week for all Wildlife Carers (Rehabbers & Vet Professionals).

OUR 5 YEAR 'BIG VISION' GOALS

 

By the end of 2027, we hope to be serving all 5000 Vet Practices in the UK, offering transport support for the 150,000 wildlife casualties/orphans they'll be collectively seeing every month (during the busy Spring/Summer months).

 

(Each Vet Practice sees an average of 30 casualties a month each, during Spring/Summer).

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[Of course, we will still be running during the Autumn/Winter - quieter - months, but the numbers will be a lot lower.]

 

Through the WCB, we hope to have made available - to every Vet Practice in the UK - a template structure & supplementary documents to help build strong, trusting relationships between Vet Practices & Rescues in every region: helping everyone to treat and rehabilitate wildlife to the best of their joint ability.

 

We intend to have a WCB Map featuring 100s of WCB Holders, all of whom have their own team of UKWT Drivers, so that no wild life is ever left stuck without being able to get to medical care.

 

We intend to still be holding Compassion Fatigue Support Sessions for all Wildlife Carers (Rehabbers & Vet Professionals) every week.

 

We intend to be holding CPD sessions for Vet Professionals throughout each year and free WCB Webinars to continue to support the Wildlife Care Community (and ultimately to support wildlife themselves).

CONCLUSION - WHY ARE WE HELPING SPECIFICALLY IN ALL THESE WAYS?

 

WHAT IS THE UNITED IMPACT THAT ALL OF OUR DIFFERENT EFFORTS WILL HAVE?

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Why do I - Alana - think I am able to develop this national support structure?

 

Quite simply… Because in doing something so simple as set up UKWT (a national wildlife transport support network) I found myself connecting & communicating with Wildlife Rescues, Rehabbers & Vet Practices across the UK.  I found myself with a national overview that not many others were lucky enough to have.

 

I am no Rehabber (and I am in awe of those who save our UK wildlife every day) but as a relative outsider, I was in the fortunate position to be able to see what kind of support structure could enable wildlife professionals (whether Rehabbers and/or Vet Professionals) to help wildlife more.

 

Just in speaking to so many different wildlife carers regularly, more & more professionals started to get involved and pull all of the pieces together with me (I could never do this on my own) and so together - all of our combined ideas and different types of expertise - we have seen how we can fill in lots of gaps, so that everyone is a lot more supported, more knowledgeable, with more experience and with all of the support services that help them to do what they do best: stand up for and provide second chances for our UK wildlife.

 

Now, I just need to dedicate the time and effort required to fulfil all of our vision for a more wildly supported UK: a human safety net for our UK wildlife.

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