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Thursday 12pm - 4pm Friday 12pm - 4pm Saturday 12pm - 4pm Sunday 12pm - 4pm

The Retreat Animal Rescue Farm Sanctuary and Cafe

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The Retreat Animal Rescue Farm Sanctuary and Cafe

Here is a 3 minute video that explains what we do at The Retreat Animal Rescue Farm Sanctuary and Cafe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3c0szZ7VYI
(1534)

🌱 The Retreat Animal Rescue Sanctuary
🐮 Meet the Animals
🐑 Café | Supermarket
🐐 Thrift & Gift Shop | Lodge | Tours
🐷 Open 12-4 Thurs-Sun
🫶 Free entry
🐕 Dog friendly
🐦‍⬛ Wildlife rescue
💚 Be kind, it's easy
📍Ashford, Kent

12/08/2026

Meet Bubbles and Amelia, who were recently found in the middle of the road… they are both incredibly friendly and comfortable with people, and always give you the warmest welcome 🥰 they are now looking for their forever home… 🐽❤️

11/08/2026

Help us fund vaccinating all of our animals against Blue Tongue Virus.

Blue Tongue Virus is becoming more of a risk to cows, sheep and goats across the country. We have decided to vaccinate all of ours, almost 150 individuals in total, to keep them all safe as Blue Tongue can be fatal.

Our vets have quoted us £650 for all doses of the vaccine that we'll need, which is very reasonable considering, but it's a cost we hadn't planned for!

If you're able to donate even £1 to help us cover this cost we'd massively appreciate it.

Thank you for your support 🙏

https://www.justgiving.com/page/retreat-blue-tongue

10/08/2026

Make sure you join us Sunday 30th August for our summer fayre!

We'll have a variety of stalls selling all sorts of great items, and it all helps raise money for our rescued residents.

We still have some spots available for stalls, including a few coveted places in our air conditioned event room! But if you prefer to be outside we have space for many gazebos. If you're interested in trading please email [email protected] with details of what you make/sell.

If any musicians would be happy to perform on the day to help cultivate a lovely atmosphere for all our visitors and stallholders, please also get in touch.

As always, entry and parking are free, and dogs on leads are welcome (but obviously if it's hot it's best to leave them at home)

09/08/2026

It’s looking like another beautiful day here at The Retreat 🪿🪿🪿🪿🪿🪿🪿

08/08/2026

Please note that today, Saturday 8th August, the café closes at 3.30pm, with the kitchen closing at 3pm.
Sorry for any inconvenience caused, but this is due to the memorial service of a close friend of The Retreat - we're sure you all understand 🩵
Back to normal tomorrow

07/08/2026

This week at our Be Kind Café it's SARNIEGEDDON!!!
Café manager Lil and head chef Debbie are going head to head in the battle of the sandwiches!

Lil's special sarnie is coleslaw, ready salted chips, cracked black pepper, and lots of margarine on white bread.

Debbie's delight is a chickind Caesar salad sandwich with crispy bacon bits on a choice of white or brown bread.

There's either going to be a prize for the winner or a forfeit for the loser - that's to be decided so write your suggestions for them below!

As well as the sandwich battle there's also the Garden Breakfast that was very popular last week, breaded mushrooms, and banana caramel pancakes.

See you soon!
Open every Thursday to Sunday 12-4pm until the end of November. Entry and parking free as always, and dogs on leads welcome!

06/08/2026

Please join us in wishing volunteer Paul a very happy 40th birthday today! 🥳🎂🎉

Paul is a highly valued member of our bird and hospital team, but he's always happy to help with our horses and farmed animals too, which is a big bonus!

"I became a volunteer to spend time with birds up close, to see them in a way that you don't normally get to, and to be able to help care for them, particularly those birds that most people see as 'pests'," he says.

As well as his hands on work with the animals, Paul also takes some absolutely stunning photos of our residents - we've added a few here for you to enjoy!

Happy birthday Paul, have a wonderful day and thank you for everything you do for our residents!

04/08/2026

Honey, one of our Wittersham rescue pigs with her babies Bumble, Winnie, Bramble and Miele.
If you listen, you'll hear her grunting - this is common with mother pigs - they "sing" to their piglets while they're feeding, and scientific research has shown that piglets have a certain teat order, and every piglet has their own teat!

Other fun facts about pigs:
🐖 They are one of the smartest animals in the world - more so than dogs and some primates, and have problem solving abilities comparable to a 3 year old human child! They recognise their name, some words and hand signals from humans.

🐷 Pigs have different grunts to communicate different things, and they vary depending on their personality!

❤️ They form very close bonds with each other, and choose to sleep with their friends and family, often snuggled up close.

🐽 Pig snouts are incredibly sensitive and are used to dig up the soil and search for tasty morsels of food. Their sense of smell is around 2000 times more sensitive than a human's!

💩 Pigs are very clean animals and like to keep their toilets away from their sleeping and feeding areas. Their unfair reputation as being dirty animals comes from the fact they wallow in mud to cool down because they have no sweat glands!

☮️ Pigs are excellent at self care and enjoy massages to relax, often done just by rubbing up against trees or heavy objects. They also like to listen to music to relax.

So if you're ever called a pig by a pignorant person, just say thank you! It's a big compliment to be compared to these incredible, compassionate, and intelligent creatures.

03/08/2026

If you have been one of our supporters for a few years now, you may remember our little madam Kirsty!

Back in spring of 2022 we had a very poorly and frightened sheep brought to us after being found abandoned - we named her Margot and quickly set to work to help her on the road to recovery. She had a nasty fleshy lump on her side that wasn't like anything we had ever seen before and was terribly skinny; so much so that we didn't realise she was keeping a little secret from us until we noticed her udders had suddenly grown, and she was showing signs of going into labour! She gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl, despite being so unwell herself. We named her Kirsty - after her mother's rescuer.

Margot was an incredible mother right from the moment Kirsty was born and we would sit down and tell her how amazing she was, and Margot seemed to relax quite a lot after the birth, realising that she and her baby were now safe. She would enjoy head scratches and gentle touches from the team. Unfortunately despite our efforts, Margot ended up succumbing to her ill-health and passed 3 days after Kirsty's birth. She had given everything she had to grow her little girl and get her to sanctuary. We promised to do everything in our power to keep her baby safe and help her to grow - though we know nothing truly matches the nurturing of a loving mother.

Kirsty grew very quickly both in size, confidence and cheekiness! She'd go on regular playdates to Lara's strip to be with some of her aunties and uncles and enjoyed racing her auntie Hattie down the fields and causing lots of chaos! Now, 4 years later, our beautiful young lady is still very much that cheeky madam we fell in love with! She's often the one leading other sheep to places they shouldn't be, or marching over to our team members for her dose of affection and chest scratches that she knows she is entitled to! We know her mama would be so proud of her, just as we all are ❤️

01/08/2026

Our dedicated team of volunteers and staff go above and beyond the call of duty. Here, one has become a human salt lick for Midge!

Address

Brickyard Farm, Cripple Hill
Ashford
TN263LJ

Opening Hours

Thursday	12pm - 4pm
Friday	12pm - 4pm
Saturday	12pm - 4pm
Sunday	12pm - 4pm

Telephone

+447514114613

Website

http://www.retreatanimalrescue.org.uk/

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