June 30, 2022 11.46 am This story is over 21 months old

Rising costs force Lincolnshire wildlife rescue to close

It hopes the closure won’t be “forever”

Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue is run by Linda Bass and Aaron Goss.

Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue said it is “devastated” to have to close its doors, but it was left with no choice due to the rising costs of electricity, petrol and bills.

Linda Bass and Aaron Goss have been “battling hard to avoid a similar fate” to other rescues which were forced to close for the same reason, but rising costs has also seen a big drop in the donations they need to keep going.

The duo have been funding over 80% of the rescues between them and “just can’t afford to continue”.

Linda came out of retirement and started going back to work, and Aaron took on extra shifts while also answering messages/calls and going on rescues after work.

A volunteer called Lauren, who works long hours as a carer, also helped with the demand of rescues.

The seal being treated by Aaron Goss and Linda Bass from Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue (centre and right), with help from a representative of British Divers Marine Life Rescue.

Without this, and the support from the public, Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue admitted it “would’ve closed months ago”, but it hopes the recent closure won’t be “forever” and will be “at least until we’re in a better place”.

Any new messages and calls will be directed to vets (when vets are able to take them in) and/or to the next nearest rescues.

Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue said “our hearts break to say, we’re closing”.

Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue said in a post on social media: “We’ve seen huge increases in the price of everything needed for the rescue and rehabilitation of wildlife.

“Feed has risen by roughly 70-90%, petrol prices are through the roof (the amount of travelling we do daily is unreal), powering all the incubators and specialist equipment, medications, bedding…a good month can be over £2,000, throw in vet and unexpected bills and you’re sometimes double that.

“Until we’re in a better place with funds, we simply cannot afford to take in any further admissions. We’re only volunteers and we cannot be running a rescue (which is a massive task on its own) and taking on extra shifts at paid workplaces just to keep the rescue open, we’re exhausted!

“We truly appreciate all the support we have received in the past, without you, thousands of injured wild animals and birds would have struggled to be rescued and many would likely have been put to sleep or died in other ways… Our hearts break for the future wildlife causalities that we wish we could afford to take in.

“We do hope this isn’t forever, but we can’t carry on until we have a secure base of funds and know that going forward that we can continue the good standard of care that wildlife needs.”

Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue added that if just 20% of its close to 6,000 Facebook followers set up a £2 monthly donation or similar, it would “be in a better place to start again and allow new admissions into the rescue”.

Donations to Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue can be made here.