ELM Wildlife needs your help to save UK wildlife

ELM Wildlife, needs your help

Thank you for coming to ELM Wildlife’s GoFundMe fundraiser, my name is Rick Parker, CEO and joint co-founder of ELM with Jacky and Emily. We hope you like the work we do; you can check us out at https://www.facebook.com/savinghedgehogs . Please consider Following and supporting us, with your help we can save more wildlife.

Why are we trying to raise £30,000

Over the years ELM has needed around £65k per annum to run, but as with everything in the UK, the costs have been steadily rising. 2025 is looking like a perfect storm, with general items increasing massively, forced wage rises, a lack of volunteers across the charity sector, 95% of funding focusing on people-based charities and ELM’s own personal old chestnut, our landlord taking every opportunity to make life harder; let’s not go there now. This is going to increase ELM’s overheads by at least £15k.

So why £30k you are asking, well although casualty intake hasn’t gone done, donations have; hence we’re asking for your help.

It was my hope that this year, we could top our £65k and reach £100k, this would have put us in a slightly higher tier and possible able to apply to higher funders, some will only look at your projects, if you’ve topped £100k in donations for that year; I can’t see that happening this year.

Many of you will be aware of our fight to keep ELM running, after our landlord decided to try and force us out; like he has done to many other businesses on site. Apart from the numerous leaks in the roof, archaic wiring and lighting (what there is of it), the router being taken in the middle of the night and I’m not going to say finally because it never is, he stopped having our waste collected.

Jacky, Emily and I are committed to seeing the building of a new rescue centre to fruition; not only do we dedicate all their time to ELM, Jacky and I have also remortgaged to the tune of £100k, to purchase the land to build a new rescue centre on. Time is short for ELM at its leased premises at Seale Hayne; the team are constantly being harassed by their landlord and must cope with poor conditions of the unit.

Update on the planning application

A Pre App to Teignbridge Council was submitted, which came back very positive and now we're in the process of putting in a full planning application; if you fancy helping, please drop us a line. There is a massive amount of support in the Devon community, for ELM to succeed.

ELM will need to raise funds for all the work to go forward, but at this time, ELM needs funds to keep the rescue centre running. Over the past 7 years, ELM has rescued over 6000 animals; with a new rescue centre and more staff, many more could be saved.

Above is a rendering of what we hope will be the future of ELM, a massive thank you to our new friends and supporters at https://cocreate-architects.com/ who have been working for ELM pro bono; plus having to put up with my very rough designs/scribbles.

The vision is to take the expertise, youth, drive and support ELM has make it the best it can be, with a purpose-built rescue centre that can accommodate many species of wildlife casualties from Devon and beyond. ELM already has two paid employees, and the hope is to add another two when funding allows, these are complemented by our 120 volunteers; we also hope to combine smaller rescues to help them out. The building will be 860m², constructed of steel, with steel cladding, basically a barn structure; the aim is to make it blend into its surroundings.

Going from our leased unit at Seale Hayne, with its numerous leaks in the roof, floor that cannot be cleaned, no working toilet, virtually no heating, substandard electrics (not certified), only a third of the lighting working, no outside space and a landlord that will not stop harassing us; it’s going to be a dream come true.

A little explanation on small charities and UK grant funding

There are a lot of large charities who advertise that they rescue wildlife, it’s a common misconception that donations collected by large charities are donated to smaller charities, this is not the case. I’m referring to wildlife rescue like ELM and other small charities, who do the bulk of the work. Obviously, you must support the charity that feels right for you, but if you care about sick and injured wildlife, think of us, or any other small charity that does as we do.

On the grant side, there is no government funding and unfortunately it is very difficult to find people with the expertise to apply for grant funding. The large charities have paid staff who search and apply for the small pocket of funding, that is allocated to saving wildlife. It is big business writing funding bids, we’ve been quoted a £1000 per day, with no guarantees of success, this is not something we can afford.

Back story of ELM

ELM Wildlife was created in 2018 by the Parker family (Rick, Jacky and Emily) and has been run/manned by them daily, ever since; has become the largest capacity hedgehog rescue in the SW of England. ELM is registered with the UK Charity Commission, registration number 1188486. Every penny raised, donated or bequeathed, goes towards running ELM; Rick and Jacky have never taken a wage.

ELM Wildlife rescue and rehabilitates British wildlife, primarily hedgehogs but we do take other wildlife when space allows; we medicate and house all casualties. ELM admits 1500+ casualties a year, with an enclosure capacity at present for 220 animals, but this is still not enough on occasions; ELM has grown into the SW’s largest capacity hedgehog rescue. We are supported by a team of over 120 volunteers and two paid staff members; with the centre manned and open 365 days a year.

There is also a dedicated call line that averages between 60-80 calls, on a busy day and a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/savinghedgehogs (please ‘Like’ and ‘Follow’ us) with advice for none emergencies via the ‘Messenger Button’.

ELM covers the whole of Devon, with regular casualties from neighbouring counties and is utilised RSPCA, RSPB, Devon Wildlife and many Devon vets refer enquires straight to us. The rescue centres present address is Unit 5, Hayter Hames building, Seale Hayne, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 6NQ

If you are happier donating via the ELM’s bank account:

Name: ELM Wildlife

Account number: 749 532 73

Sort Code: 55-70-01

When you next consider a charity to support with a Standing Order of a few pounds per month, please consider ELM. a standing order is also a good idea if you are going to make several donations to the GoFundMe; it also bypasses the handling fee.

If you care for the health and wellbeing of wildlife, please consider helping us to help them. With your help we will be able to help many more casualties. You can become part of the story too.

Thank you so much from,

Rick, Jacky & Emily Parker, plus Gayle and Emma our Trustee’s.

We would like to give a massive thank you to Arwen Stickland at Arwen Stickland Filmmaker for the fantastic work she did producing the attached video. Please look her up at https://www.arwenstickland.co.uk/