Tower Hill Stables

Fiona & Murphy out for a stroll

TOWER HILL STABLES - THIS SANCTUARY NEEDS A CASH INFUSION NOW!!

Fiona Oakes runs Tower Hill Stables 24/7 with no staff and no helpers other than her partner, Martin, who helps out at weekends.

Call me a fat pig, and the cat'll have you!

Tower Hill is Fiona's home which she shares with Martin and around 260 rescues, including hamsters, wood-eating guinea pigs, chinchillas, chipmunks, rabbits, old and blind cats, various assorted dogs, numerous goats, cows, horses (saved from the knackers yard), turkeys (saved from Christmas) and pigs (saved from Wall's) - you could say she has literally "saved their bacon!". Unsurprisingly, having witnessed how so many animals are treated over the years, Fiona is a committed vegan and can look any animal in the eye with impunity.

Not including vets bills or maintenance, it costs Fiona over £4,000 per month - every month to run the Sanctuary. All of this is funded by Martin's salary (he works for a Bank), Fiona's salary as a retained Fire-Fighter, and a loyal 100-odd worldwide members sponsor animals at the sanctuary which help pay for for around 30% of the bills.

A lot of people contact Fiona asking if they can come & look round. This might seem like a harmless request, but looking after over 260 animals on her own can only be achieved by starting before dawn each morning, & working solidly until 7.30 in the evening. The little time Fiona does get to herself during the day she uses to train for marathons, running approximately 15-20 miles 5 times a week. She does this to raise awareness for animal welfare & to demonstrate that a Vegan is not a weakling - Fiona can run a marathon in under three hours.

Fiona has not had a holiday in fifteen years. She works 365 days a year and with 260 animals to look after all on her own 7 days a week, she is usually exhausted most of the time (it's exhausting just thinking about what she does!). When someone is kind enough to help financially, it gives Fiona real boost to know that there are people out there who care.

Tonight Matthew, we're going to be Kate & Leonardo in Titanic...

Whilst doing all this, Fiona is also 'on the run' for the fire service most of the time (apart from when training) & if her alerter should sound, she has to get to the fire station within 5 minutes. (4 miles) This can be incredibly inconvenient as you can imagine, but she needs the money for the animals & it's a job that she can do whilst seeing to all the two and four footed friends that she loves - there aren't many jobs like that!

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

CHECK OUT THE WAYS, BY CLICKING ON THE OPTIONS BELOW.

Sponsor a Rescue
Make a Donation
Buy some Food for the Animals
Donate on Line
Donate by PayPal
Use the Sanctuary Shop
Buy a CD
Buy a Calendar
Join the Sanctuary Gym...!
Buy some Sanctuary Merchandise
Check out the WISH LIST