Brockswood

06/09/2025

Happy National Read a Book Day! 🐷📚
Today feels like the perfect day to introduce you to one very special story… Kevin the Stunt Pig Extraordinaire!

This children’s book was lovingly written and illustrated by one of our wonderful (and very talented!) volunteers, with funds helping to care for the amazing animals who call Brockswood home. From our cheeky goats to our elderly sheep, and of course our very own real-life pig Kevin, every page of this book helps support residents just like them.

His story is full of fun, laughter, and heart, showing little readers (and big ones too!) that courage comes in all shapes and sizes 🐖💨

📖 You can get your trotters on it here:
✨ Order from Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/j8uxjyp
✨ Or pick up directly from us at the sanctuary (and if you’re lucky, Rachael might even be around to sign it for you!)

So, why not celebrate Read a Book Day by joining Kevin on his stunt-filled adventures while helping animals at the same time? As a team of book worms, we’d also love to hear what great books you’ve got your noses stuck in at the moment as well!

01/09/2025

We’ve been closed today while our residents enjoyed a quiet (if a little wet!) start to the week. From tomorrow right through to Sunday, our gates will be open to welcome you as usual.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, our coffee shop will have cold snacks only, as our wonderful chef (and director!) is taking a much-deserved break for a few days. The animals think he’s earned it too! 🐐🐓🐴

Looking ahead: Next week we’ll be CLOSED all week while our team gets stuck into essential behind-the-scenes jobs and improvements around the sanctuary.

From the following week, we’ll also be introducing Workday Wednesdays. This means we’ll be closed every Wednesday going forward, giving our small team dedicated time to build, fix, plant, and make the sanctuary the best it can be for our residents - and for you!

Thank you for your kindness and understanding. Every visit, kind word, and donation helps us keep this special place running. We can’t wait to welcome you through the gates again tomorrow!

31/08/2025

A huge thank you to everyone who came along and made our Sanctuary Dog Show such a wonderful day! 💚

We’ll be posting a proper round-up soon once we’ve finished the big tidy up and had a chance to recover (there was a lot going on behind the scenes!) - but for now we just wanted to say how grateful we are to you all!

In the meantime, we’d love to see your photos from the day, so please do share them with us! 📸 We can’t wait to share some of our own highlights soon too.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support, and for filling our sanctuary with love and so many beautiful happy dogs!

28/08/2025

We are busy getting all the final touches ready for our annual fun day and dog show this Saturday 🐾

We want to say a massive thank you to Moo Dog Training for sponsoring the rosettes for our dog show again. Lillie has sponsored the rosettes for several years now and they are always so lovely and we are very grateful!

We can't wait to see you all on the day. If you have any questions about the day please don't hesitate to pop us a message

27/08/2025

Our Fun Dog Show takes place THIS Saturday, and we’re currently filling our prize bags ready for the big day. There’s still time for local organisations to be part of them by adding products, vouchers, or samples, or by sponsoring a prize.

It’s a wonderful way to:
✔️ Showcase your brand to a dog-loving audience
✔️ Support your local animal sanctuary
✔️ Help raise vital funds for our sanctuary residents 💚

Pictured here is Ben, our sanctuary rescue dog, who will be cheering you all on for your entered classes (there’s something for everyone!)

If your business would like to be involved, please message us here or email [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you!

Together, we can make this year’s Dog Show a fantastic success for the community and the special animals in our care.

25/08/2025

Some of you may remember our little ducklings - look how fast they’re growing! Here they are tucking into their breakfast and getting ready to enjoy a lovely sunny Bank Holiday. ☀️

And remember…

✅ We’re open today and every day this week - our last week of summer holiday daily opening!
❌ Mon 1st September – CLOSED (but open the rest of that week)
❌ Mon 8th – Fri 12th September – CLOSED for essential work
✅ Sat 13th & Sun 14th September – OPEN

From then onwards, we’ll be introducing our new “Work Wednesdays” 🛠️ to help us take care of those big sanctuary jobs (and give our animals a peaceful midweek breather).

So if you’ve been planning a visit, now’s the perfect time to waddle down - the ducks agree!

24/08/2025

🐷 Peekaboo! We’ve had lots of questions about tomorrow, so just to confirm - YES, we are open this Bank Holiday Monday! Come and spend some time with our beautiful residents, enjoy the sun, fresh air, and make some lovely summer memories with us.

After that, here’s how the next couple of weeks look:

✅ Monday 25th – Sunday 31st August – OPEN all week
⛔️ Monday 1st September – CLOSED, but open the rest of that week
⛔️ Monday 8th – Friday 12th September – CLOSED all week
✅ Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th September – OPEN as normal

📅 From the following week onwards, we’ll be introducing our new “Work Wednesdays.” Just like our old Maintenance Mondays, this will give our team time to tackle those bigger jobs that can’t easily be done with visitors around, and give our residents a well-earned midweek rest day to enjoy the sanctuary all to themselves. 💚

Thank you for your patience as we balance keeping the sanctuary running smoothly, caring for our animals, and welcoming you all to visit - we really appreciate your support. See you soon!

23/08/2025

We are always so honoured when people find our sanctuary, a sanctuary for themselves and their families. The wonderful Martin Goodall, who sadly left the earth too soon, was one of these people.
He enjoyed many wonderful, family filled days with us and we are so honoured to hold many dear memories for his family.

His friends are currently fundraising in his memory, running 10k on 19th October. If any of you can dig deep and spare a few pounds, we know this would mean so much to his dear family and friends. Follow the link to donate and read more about this wonderful man and their fundraiser. Thank you!

In memory of Martin Goodall ❤️

Iʼm raising money to Charities In Memory Of Our Friend Martin ‘Munchie’ Goodall. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.

14/08/2025

Due to some cancellations, we have a few stall spaces become available for our annual fun day and dog show. We are full with dog treat/accessory stalls, but if you would like us to add you to our reserve list then please do pop us a message.

If you are interested in having a stall with us, please pop us a message or email [email protected] for more information

13/08/2025

Many of you know and love our wonderful Callum, so we wanted to keep you updated on his health. Following a recent visit from our lovely equine vet, Callum has now been diagnosed with Cushing’s Disease (PPID), a common condition in older ponies. He’s now started daily medication and we’re putting a new care plan in place to help manage it.

Like many new medicines, it can take a little time for his body to adjust, and there may be some mild side effects while it settles in. So if you notice him looking a little quieter than usual, please don’t worry - he’s still our same cheeky Callum underneath, and our team are keeping a close eye on him with plenty of love and care.

Callum has been a much-loved member of our sanctuary family for many years, and we’re committed to giving him all the comfort, attention, and treats he needs while we help him feel his best again.

Thank you for sending him your love and for caring about him as much as we do; it means more than you know. We’ll continue to keep you updated as we navigate this new path together with him 💚

12/08/2025

P**p p**p! 🐸 Today’s the big day – Wind in the Willows comes to Brockswood! We can’t wait to welcome you all for an evening of adventures with Toad, Ratty, Mole, and Badger.

We’ve had a few questions about whether your four-legged friends can join you – the answer is absolutely yes 🐾. We just ask that they’re:
🐶 Well-behaved so they don’t disrupt the show
🐶 Kept on leads at all times

And for you humans – don’t forget to bring a chair or picnic blanket so you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the performance in comfort!

See you later at Brockswood for a magical trip down the riverbank 🌿✨

https://www.brockswood.org.uk/event-details/the-wind-in-the-willows-at-brockswood-animal-sanctuary

06/08/2025

Yesterday was a big day for our lovely Callum, and we’re so proud of how bravely he handled his vet check-up.

We called the vet out after noticing that Callum had lost a little more weight than we’d expected, beyond the careful weight management plan we already have in place for him. Since nothing has changed in his care routine, we felt it was important to get him checked over.

Thankfully, the vet was very happy with all of his vitals, and Callum was a star throughout - calm, cooperative, and still full of character (he made a point of trying to undo our zips and raid our pockets while waiting for his blood draw!).

While he’s still the strong and cheeky boy we know and love, we know our animals best and sometimes it’s those subtle changes that tell us something’s not quite right. We’re working to get to the bottom of it so we can hopefully put it right.

In the meantime, Callum is enjoying lots of extra fuss, bigger meals, and plenty of treats - though Duke isn’t quite so impressed with that part!

We’ll keep you posted on his progress, and thank you for always caring about our residents as much as we do 💚