Our Urgent Hay Appeal

Can you help us – again?

We thought the last two years were tricky enough with Covid and the lack of fundraising! Little did we know that 2022 would bring us the hottest UK temperatures on record, and over such a sustained period!

The soaring temperatures have meant the grass in the paddocks can’t grow – in fact it’s turned to dust as you can see from the images. So even those animals that aren’t laminitic and can eat grass, have none to nibble!

We’ve had to increase our hay stocks by 75% over the past month! This, combined with increasing fuel and transport costs, mean that we’re also having to buy our hay, straw and woodchip bedding at higher prices than before too.

We know the rain will come at some point, but it will be too late to replenish our stocks this year which means we’ll also be heading into the winter and through into next spring with a shortage.

We fully understand these are challenging times for many, so we know our timing is not good. You’ve helped us in the past and we really hope you can again. However little, every penny really does make a difference.

Please make donations via our Donation page directly on our website or via our JustGiving Appeal page.

If you prefer you can telephone the Sanctuary on 01277 356191 to make a donation via a credit or debit card, or post a cheque to Remus Horse Sanctuary, Little Farm, Buttsbury, Essex CM4 9NZ.

Storm Eunice Update

It’s hard to believe now, but Storm Eunice hit the Sanctuary in February of this year. Following on from the devastation it heralded, we had various contractors and volunteers in attempting to fix the extensive damage. Our main concern was the broken fencing and the damaged shelters, as both of these have direct impact upon the animals’ welfare.

Following the storm, we had to move many of our horses into different fields and paddocks due to damaged and unsafe fencing that was not secure for them to stay in. Many of these paddocks we either save for summer months or are not suitable to hold horses long term and so the fencing needed to become a priority.

Additionally, a large volunteer group party came up one Sunday and proceeded to clear a lot of the damaged structures, fencing and debris, leaving big pieces in situ with the hope that they can be rebuilt where they laid. We were very grateful for the help they provided.

Over the course of the next 2 weeks, we had a fencing contractor team in to repair the broken sections of fencing, which was done swiftly and efficiently, and all the fencing is now completed.

Simultaneously we had a roofing company in to repair a skylight in the main building, tiles that had come down, an exterior floodlight that had been severely bent, roofing slates that had come off one of our buildings, and also the main electricity cable loom that had been pulled off that same building.

Work is now starting on repairing and rebuilding the shelters. The one that was in the best shape has already been completed by our handyman volunteer Jon. A new roof is being put on top of the shelter at the back of our barn from which the felting was ripped off and timber roof structures damaged, and which is now being replaced by a tin roof. Then there are still lots of smaller jobs that will require work in the next phase! Although the storm may have only lasted a short time, it has certainly left a lasting legacy on the Sanctuary.

We would like to thank everyone that has donated towards this appeal so far, and those many people who have helped physically at the Sanctuary and have allowed for this work to be completed and continue. Without your donations we would struggle to finance such a large-scale restoration and we are extremely grateful. That said there is a huge deficit in the costs and still more to do so, if you haven’t yet contributed to our appeal, we would be most grateful if you could. You can do so via the link here: www.justgiving.com/campaign/rebuild-remus-after-eunice.

Buy a Bale of Hay to Support Charity

In late March, Sue Burton, Founder of Remus Horse Sanctuary was told to close the horse welfare charity and stop all fundraising – one of her worst nightmares! As a result, the ‘Buy a Bale of Hay’ appeal has been set up online to help raise funds to continue to care for and feed the animals at the Sanctuary.

£5 will help us buy one bale of hay, £10 will help buy two bales of hay, £15 will help the charity buy three bales of hay, whilst £20 will ensure one animal receives hay every day for a week. As one can imagine, the volume of food required to feed the charity’s 200+ animals is by far its biggest expense and challenge.

Ms Burton commented: “Thankfully our animals, for the most part, remain oblivious to everything going on around them. But we have been reliant on a handful of people to look after everything – and believe me, its hard work! Fundraising and events are crucial to our survival and there have been many days when I’ve wondered if we would even see it through to the autumn!”

After the winter months the charity is always desperate for its fundraising and events to start, to bring in much needed funds to feed the animals and pay the bills that have been mounting up over the winter period. The heatwave in spring meant that the normal grass supplies in the paddock were sparse, whilst the subsequent downpours have flooded the fields.

Due to the very stringent and necessary requirements about re-opening from the Government, Local Authority and National Farm Attractions Network, it is the charity’s intention to host a further virtual Open Day on Sunday 2 August but to welcome the public and host a live event again on Sunday 6 September – the first one this year.

Ms Burton said, “We have thought long and hard about opening to the public and we are very mindful that if we do we have to keep ourselves safe – if we go down with the virus then the animals wont be cared for. Also, a lot of our stall holders and volunteers are older, so we need to keep them as safe as possible and, of course, its very important that we keep our supporters safe too.

“It is important to us that we follow the guidelines and do things to the letter, so we will be making some changes to the way that the Open Days are run during September and October.”

To find out more about the appeal and to donate, please visit the JustGiving website here: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/buyabaleofhay.

For further information, visit www.remussanctuary.org or contact Sue Burton on tel: 01277 356191.

Will you help us?

There’re so many ways you can help us, all that we ask is you choose one!

Please consider making a donation towards our winter feed costs. Our work is very hard and costly – it takes time and effort to set up a rescue – and we see some awful cases that break our hearts. Most we can save, others sadly die, but at least at the end they were loved and cared for. The financial aspect doesn’t stop just by rescuing and bringing the animals into our care as then our costs really start to escalate as we try to rectify the mess previously made of these poor creatures.

Donating the cost of just 2 coffees to us each month would have a huge impact…

Sadly we have hit a time where donations have gone down and have stayed down since the recession some years back, but our costs continue to rise. Can you help us to help these poor creatures – all innocent victims of man’s inhumanity? Thousands of horses are caught up in the horse welfare crisis and suffer daily. We want to be able to help these horses and give them a chance but we can only do this with your help:

Can you make a donation to help us to continue this critical work, rescuing and rehabilitating sick, abused and neglected animals?
Can you organise an event to help raise money for us?
Do you run a business which could help with a charity raffle or bake sale?
Are you part of a group or a club that could help raise awareness of our plight?
If all our friends on Facebook could set up a standing order for just £5 a month it would make a huge difference and it’s only the cost of two coffees!
Do you have good quality bric-a-brac or unwanted gifts or unwanted stock that we can sell to raise funds?

There are so many ways that you could help us and therefore help these beautiful noble creatures who suffer so badly at the hands of humanity.

Please get in touch via telephone, email or Facebook – we’re looking forward to hearing from you.

Tel: 01277 356191
Email: info@remussanctuary.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RemusHorseSanctuary

We need your help

These pictures show some of the horses we have rescued. All terribly sad stories, some we could save and others we were too late to help, but this suffering goes on every day. We are regularly asked, often via Facebook, to get involved and help horses and we are happy to, but obviously this always comes at a cost. There are costs in the recovery itself and it doesn’t stop just by bringing the animals into the Sanctuary. As we try to rectify the mess made of these poor creatures, our costs start to rocket!

Sadly, we have hit a time where donations have gone down and have stayed down since the recession some years back, but our costs continue to spiral.

Can you help us to help these poor creatures – all innocent victims of man’s inhumanity?

Thousands of horses are caught up in the horse welfare crisis and suffer daily. We want to be able to help these horses and give them a chance, but we can only do this with your help.

Can you make a donation to help us to continue this critical work?
Can you organise an event to help raise money for us?
Do you run a business which could help?
Are you part of a group or a club that could help?
Do you have good quality bric-a-brac or unwanted gifts or unwanted stock that we can sell to raise funds?
If all our supporters could set up a standing order for just £5 a month it would make a huge difference and it’s only the cost of two coffees!

There are so many ways that you could help us, and therefore help these beautiful noble creatures who suffer so badly at the hands of humanity. Please do get in touch and support the work that we do.

Please make a donation to help us today!

Together we believe we can make a difference.

35th Anniversary

Can you help the Sanctuary this year on our 35^th birthday?

Perhaps you could help run a stall at our events, put up a poster in your local shop or vets, can you ask your local shop if they will take one of our collection tins?
Perhaps you could help Carrie with her talks raising awareness of what we do at the charity throughout the year?
Or could you volunteer for a few hours here at the farm?
Can you help keep an eye on horses near you to check they are being fed and watered?
Could you rattle some tins on your local High Street?
Can you organise a fundraising event for Remus?
What about giving a friend the gift of membership for their birthday or sponsoring an animal to give to a loved one as a gift?

There are lots of ways that you can help Remus and we try and make it as easy as possible, with ideas like those above and also lots of useful information here on our website. Click on any of the links above to learn more or, of course, do pick up the phone!

Our founder, Sue Burton, says, “As you’ll know by now, 2018 is Remus’ 35^th birthday and some of our members have been with us since day one which I think is amazing! It never fails to surprise me just how wonderful our friends and supporters are.

“Thank you all for all that you do for Remus in whatever way you do.”

Latest news and events for 2018

You’ll be pleased to hear that our website is now fully up to date with our events for 2018. Click here to find out more about our events, including our Spring Sales, Quiz Night and Ladies’ Fashion Show and our Kids Pony Days return for the Easter holidays. Click here to download and print a pdf of all dates.

Life at the Sanctuary is not getting any easier, so we try to make it as simple as possible for you to help us here at the Charity, from supporting our events, to donating clothing and bric-a-brac, to volunteering. Click on any of the highlighted links below and you’ll be directed to the appropriate page on our website.

Food & Donations

It’s that time of year when donations go down but our costs rise as we need more bedding, food and forage on site and need to try to get forage and water out to as many horses left tethered on the sides of the road as we can. Can you help us with a donation or food?

Also at this time of year we use more money on pain relief for the old horses and ponies who have arthritis and joint issues and rugs for all the horses, especially in the severe cold spells like we’ve recently experienced, so it really is a very costly time for us.

These efforts can mean the difference between life and death, so thank you for any help that you may be able to offer!

Afternoon Teas & Open Days

Looking ahead to the warmer weather, both of these events are very good for Remus from a promotional and a fundraising perspective but we are desperate for people to join our Afternoon Tea Team and our Open Day Teams.

There are seven Afternoon Teas planned for this year and six Open Days. If you can help at either, or would like more information to help promote these events, please do call or email the Sanctuary.

We really do need more help to both continue these events and to make them successful. Find out more about volunteering here.

Recycling

Do you have any unwanted presents – Christmas or Birthday – that you no longer want or require or any good quality bric-a-brac? If so we would love to have them at the Sanctuary to help raise funds for the horses.

Don’t forget we can turn your used stamps, old coins, foreign currency, old phones, old clothes, printer cartridges, any World War memorabilia, and books into cash for the animals!

For details of all of the ways you can help Remus with your recycling, and more, please click here and do remember to encourage your friends and family for us too!

Appeal From Horse Charity Following Devastating Flooding

Sue Burton, Founder of Remus Horse Sanctuary is appealing to the public for their help and support after what has been a disastrous start to the charity’s fundraising efforts this season. The recent flooding has left the Sanctuary short of funds and struggling to cope.

Sue Burton said “We had to already cancel our May and June Open Days due to the wet weather and, to make matters worse, after spending two days under up to 5ft of flood water last week we had to take the desperate measure of cancelling our July Open Day and Dog Show too, another huge major fundraising loss.”

This year the Sanctuary has been extremely busy working to and succeeding to help horses in Essex that are in distress through neglect and starvation, whilst of course still giving all the care needed to the 200 animals at the Sanctuary.

Sue further explained, “To lose our major Summer fundraising events is a very hard blow indeed. These events are essential to us in order to replenish our depleted coffers to help fund the Sanctuary through the rest of the summer and most essentially the Winter season.”

Recently Minstral, one of the Sanctuary’s rescue horses, had a severe eye problem. Her eye effectively exploded, which ultimately meant very expensive surgery by a leading eye surgeon from Newmarket to remove the eye completely. Sue said, “We cannot plan for these sorts of problems and therefore need to have the necessary funds in place to make sure that should the animals need urgent help that we can provide it for them and maintain the high standard of welfare that they deserve.”

“We would be very grateful for any help that the generous public can offer us by way of making a donation, organising a fundraising event to raise money for us, sponsoring one of the animals or by donating to one of our appeals.” There are lots of ways to help the charity through this very difficult time and Sue would love to hear from anyone who can help and will be so appreciative of anything that be done to assist them care for all the deserving animals at Remus.

To make a donation click here, to contribute to our appeal click here or, for more ways to help Remus, click here.