About WildAidUK

Making a Difference

The impact of our work is by campaigning for UK wildlife rescuers to continue to save the lives of injured and displaced wildlife through our WildAid Challenge Scheme.

A knock, knock, knock, at the door. A young girl gently holding a young blackbird in her cusped hands. Unsure quite what to do. After a recent visit to her school by ‘The Owl Man’ (or own Jonny Hodges) she knew that he can help.  Injured after colliding with a car the young blackbird was cared back to health and several days later released back to the wild.  Who would have thought that this moment lead to the beginnings of something very special the establishment of a sanctuary where thousands of injured, displaced and orphaned animals were cared for. This sanctuary: The WildAid Foundation Trust.

WildAid was restless – under resourced, overwhelmed and frantically busy, we’d receive calls from rescue centres from all over the country for support. We were on the front line where disaster had struck its oily slick across our coastlines – rescuing – campaigning and educating.  WildAid Challenges were born – projects which delivered life-saving resources; hospital equipment, rescue equipment, food, building of enclosures to small rescue centres across the country. Nothing like this had happened before.

We would take WildAid into the community. Into schools, colleges and universities, working with the most vulnerable in the community. Linking communities with wildlife, the natural world – helping rescue centres.  Our work changed the fortunes of many who were lost, those finding a way forward in life. Our work – life changing.

What We Do

To this day, for over 25 years, we continue to deliver support for small scale wildlife rescue centres – behind each centre is a passionate wildlife lover. It would be Elaine in Lincolnshire who for over 38 years has cared for tens of thousands of mammals. It's Heather in West Yorkshire who from her back garden saves the lives of hundreds of hedgehogs. Ron on the Shetland Islands has dedicated his life to marine mammals……. You help us do this for them and for the hundreds of small scale rescue centres just like theirs.

We continue to deliver workshops in schools, colleges and university, Our 3r’s are Rescue, Rehabilitate and Release. Talks to groups, see us at festivals, open days and Summer fayres. The world and its systems have changed yet we are still called upon to connect young people to wildlife, changing peoples lives offering them hope, focus and health.

By sharing our vision, a small contribution to our work, giving time, a resource, an idea, a thank you, a thumbs up -  you ought to know that this is keeping wildlife in the countryside. It helps Elaine, Victoria and Ross give hundreds, no, thousands of animals, a second chance in life. Thousands of young people, the vulnerable and dis-connected a connection with wildlife, a chance for their own lives.

So please enjoy our work, please share the significance that it achieves – because it is shaping and changing lives.

Our Work

Our Lancashire base serves as our headquarters for delivering welfare projects and community activities. Our team identifies wildlife welfare projects, to support across the UK and we deliver educational activities, and events for schools, colleges and universities, providing research reports for distribution to schools, wildlife groups and government agencies. We aim to provide a chance for individuals and groups, who may not have access to nature, an opportunity to build positive opinions about the natural world.

We support regional environmental agencies and advocate welfare for native wildlife as well as individuals wishing to volunteer for our concerns. If you’re an organisation or group and interested in our work why not choose us to deliver a presentation or guided activity for you.

WildAid supports an education service delivered from the U.K’s busiest wildlife centre; RSPCA  Stapeley Grange in Cheshire. The centre receives over 6000 wildlife admissions each year and we experience a very real impression of how wildlife is impacted in the UK. 

WildAid promotes a welfare directory where you can identify an animal rescue centre which will capably attend to wildlife casualties as well as offering advice.