08/11/2026
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? 🐑🐏❤️
Where do I begin?
I’ve written three different posts trying to explain where we are in life, and each one has turned into a novel.
The truth is, the last 20 years of my life have been incredibly hard. Through trauma, heartbreak, setbacks and some very dark times, I’ve somehow kept going.
I won’t go into all the details because that’s a story in itself.
But I think it’s important that I explain how we got here, because things have changed, and I know some people might wonder why.
For 20 years I was vegan. For at least 10 of those years I was pretty hardcore, because I desperately wanted to change the world for farmed animals.
At 40, I finally found my voice.
I went from being the painfully shy redhead who couldn’t hold a conversation without going bright red and hated having her photograph taken, to a woman with a mission.
I spoke from the heart, built a huge following and found myself surrounded by an army of fellow vegans who shared the same passion.
But anyone who runs a sanctuary knows that you can be a hero to hundreds, even thousands, of people, yet it only takes a handful to turn your world upside down.
Shortly after moving to the sanctuary, what should have been our dream became a living hell.
I was watched, targeted and subjected to years of relentless hatred. And the most painful part was that some of it came from people I had trusted, people who had once stood alongside me as fellow vegans.
A hate page was created, and seemingly every aspect of my life became a target.
I was frightened, I was exhausted and at times I came frighteningly close to giving up on life altogether.
I felt as though I’d been silenced.
It took me straight back to being that shy little girl at school, watching the bullies and being too frightened to speak.
There were endless worries about my animals, inspections, welfare checks and the feeling that every single move was being scrutinised.
Living in a small community made it even harder. I struggled to find a vet and often felt as though I had nowhere to turn.
But I kept going.
I couldn’t walk away from the hundreds of sheep who depended on me.
However, something inside me had changed. I no longer felt able to be the outspoken voice I’d once been.
I also realised something important.
I couldn’t put the entire future of the sanctuary in the hands of social media, where years of hard work and support could be affected overnight by a campaign of hatred.
So I went back to something I’d always loved.
Creating.
I began working with the fleece from our own much-loved sheep.
I knew this would be controversial in some vegan circles, but I also knew there was an opportunity to do something positive.
To create beautiful things, raise funds, educate people and build another way of supporting the animals.
Every creation is made with love, using fleece from sheep who are cherished and cared for throughout their lives.
And something quite wonderful happened.
We found support from vegans and non-vegans alike.
People began to understand that perhaps there was room for a different conversation. That we could help people connect with sheep, appreciate their individual personalities and see them through different eyes.
And this brings me to where we are today.
My life has changed because it had to.
I need peace. I need to protect my own wellbeing, and I no longer want to spend my days fighting battles with people.
I’m still passionate about animal welfare. I’m still trying to make a difference. But my voice is a calmer one now.
I don’t want to force opinions, lecture people or make anyone feel judged.
I’d rather open a door, encourage people to think differently and show them that every little step towards a kinder lifestyle matters.
But this leaves us in a rather unusual position.
We don’t really fit into any one category.
We can’t easily promote ourselves in vegan spaces because of the wool, and we’re certainly not a conventional farming business.
Yet this is where our future lies.
We desperately want to build The Woolly Baa into something that can help support the sanctuary and give us a more sustainable future.
My life savings have almost gone, and we have this winter to make a real difference to whether we can keep building what we’ve worked so hard for.
I love my sheep. I adore working with them, and I love creating things from their fleece.
There is so much more to this than making and selling woolly gifts.
It’s about finding a way to support hundreds of rescued sheep, many of whom are elderly, disabled or have special needs, while creating something positive from the lives we share with them.
We’ve made it through so many hurdles over the years.
But we can’t do the next part alone.
And this is where YOU come in.
If you like what we’re trying to achieve, please help us spread the word.
Share our posts.
Tag friends who might love what we make.
Comment, interact and help introduce us to new people.
It really does make a difference.
This week alone we’ve welcomed new followers and some wonderful support, and it has reminded me that there are still so many good people out there.
We might not all agree on every topic, and perhaps that’s exactly how it should be.
But surely we can find common ground in wanting a kinder world?
I don’t want to spend the rest of my life fighting people.
I want to spend it creating, caring for my sheep and building something that can continue to support them.
We’ve come this far.
Now we need your help to make this next chapter work.
Thank you for still being here, for understanding that people change, circumstances change, and sometimes the way we make a difference changes too.
