New Face Leads the Sanctuary

27 February 2023

New Face Leads The IOW Donkey Sanctuary

The Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary has appointed a new Chief Executive, to lead the sanctuary from the 20th of February 2023.

Susan McCall, originally from Perth and latterly from Cambridgeshire, was appointed to the role and is moving to the island in mid-February. Susan is bringing with her various pets consisting of, 34 sheep, 3 horses, 2 dogs and a cat, an indication of her love for animals!

Susan has played a leading role in several charities, in particular the Ride High Equine Charity in Milton Keynes, which specialised in developing interactions of equines with people with additional needs.

Susan impressed the staff at the charity with her equine background, her business knowledge, her love of animals, and her focus on helping people make the most of their talents and abilities.

Dawn Finney, Chair of Trustees at the sanctuary said, "Susan will make a real difference to the sanctuary. She will consolidate on our success of the last few years and will make the most of new opportunities for the charity. Susan will bring a fresh energy to the team and they are all looking forward to working with her".

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Equine Treatment Centre

by abigail.fox • 7 November 2024

In late 2022, we started fundraising to establish an equine clinic at the sanctuary. Thanks to your generosity, we raised £125,000 from the initial campaign. This is ringfenced to spend on the Equine Treatment Centre. In the summer of 2023, we paused fundraising and undertook a separate feasibility study, using the generous free support of a civil engineer. We used this opportunity to make sure our build plans were making the very best use of your donations and the funds we had raised. We’ve tweaked the initial plan and have planning permission to undertake a project that will greatly support our high standards of equine welfare. We plan to: Repurpose an existing structure to house the Equine Treatment Centre thus reducing construction costs. Construct an equine rehabilitation barn on the site originally intended for the clinic. Create an isolation barn at the site’s perimeter. This will mean we can provide the very best care for equines needing isolation for medical treatment or observation. We will focus first on building the new barns, then move on to repurposing existing structures into our Equine Treatment Centre. The work cannot start until spring at the earliest, when we hope the ground will have dried out and the machinery will be able to move around the site. We need to make sure our precious paddocks are well looked after while the building work takes place.