Brockswood

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 💚

05/08/2025

We know many of you have been asking after Nigel, and it’s no surprise - he’s a real favourite here at the sanctuary, and we love him just as much as you do!

Nigel’s had a longer stay in our stables than we originally hoped, after being bullied by his goose companions - something we sadly suspect happened because they could tell he wasn’t quite himself. Nigel is now an elderly gent, and his body has started to show some signs of age. He’s a little weaker, and he’s lost some of his waterproofing, which can be tough for a goose.

But make no mistake, he’s still the same strong-willed, wonderful character we all adore… He just needs a bit of extra support in this chapter of his life.

After lots of discussion and planning, today we trialled something new: Nigel has moved in with our lovely group of rescued ducks! This may sound unusual, but it’s actually familiar territory, as Nigel lived with ducks before he joined our goose gang, and this peaceful group seems a great match for him 🦆

Their aviary is fully enclosed, keeping him safe now that he’s a little slower, and the smaller, shallower pool gives him a gentle helping hand when his legs tire. Most importantly, it means Nigel no longer has to be shut in a stable overnight - something we never wanted long-term.

We’re hopeful this will be a happy new chapter for Nigel’s golden years.

💚 Thank you all for caring about him as much as we do.

05/08/2025

We’re so excited to welcome Illyria's magical production of The Wind in the Willows to the sanctuary next Tuesday, and we’d love for you to join us for this truly special evening.

Set outdoors in our sanctuary grounds, this is theatre like you’ve never experienced it before – surrounded by nature, with the soft sounds of our residents in the background. Bring a picnic blanket, your loved ones, and settle in for some fun with Mole, Ratty, Badger and Toad taking to the stage here.

🕖 Doors: 6:00pm | Show starts: 7:00pm
🎫 Tickets: £8 child | £12 adult | £36 family
👉 Book your tickets here https://www.brockswood.org.uk/event-details/the-wind-in-the-willows-at-brockswood-animal-sanctuary

All funds raised from this event go directly towards our animal care – so by enjoying a wonderful evening out, you’re helping support our rescued residents too.

Tickets are still available, but we really need your help to fill Leo's paddock (which he is kindly giving up for you for the day) and make this evening a success! If you can’t join us, please consider sharing this post with someone who might love a little theatre under the stars 💚

03/08/2025

We’ve been blown away by all your lovely feedback on our new play area upgrades – thank you! 🛠️💚

Although it’s not quite finished yet, we’re working carefully and steadily so you can continue to enjoy it safely in between. Massive thanks go to John and Matt, who’ve been putting in so much time and effort, and to the incredible corporate volunteering teams who’ve joined us to bring this vision to life. 🙌

This is turning into a wonderful community-led project, and we couldn’t be more grateful.

Can your company help? We’re still on the lookout for materials, equipment, or even time to help us complete the project and make it even better for the children who visit. If your team would like to get involved or donate supplies, we’d love to hear from you!

📩 Email Claire at [email protected] or drop us a DM here.

Let’s keep building something special together! 🧱💛

01/08/2025

It’s just 29 days until our annual fun day and dog show!

🐾 We have just 8 stall spaces left if anyone would like to have a stall with us on the day, pop us a message for more info

🐾 This year we are also looking for sponsorships for our dog show classes again. This is a wonderful opportunity for businesses to advertise along with helping our small sanctuary. For more info on this please pop us a message

🐾 We will have lots of fun things to do on the day for both dogs, children and adults from face painting and bouncy castles to browsing stalls, taking part in some dog agility and visiting our rescued residents.

This is also our biggest fundraiser of the year and all proceeds raised will go towards the care of our rescued residents, especially with winter not far away (yes we said it!) which is our most difficult and expensive time. So whether you visit for an hour or the day, it all makes a difference!

We can’t wait to see lots of familiar faces again, thank you all for your continued support, and we look forward to meeting lots of new people too, dogs included!