It has been a while since I have written about Kays Hill, so we caught up on the latest news from Kevin and Leanne yesterday and took some photos for PoC while we were there.
A local leek club had raised money from a raffle and invited Babz via Funeralcare where she works, to name a charity to receive it, she of course nominated Kays Hill. She had a nice collection of cat food too, which kind people here take in to her office to donate.
So off we went after Babz finished work. She had to wear her uniform for photos for her firm’s community book but it didn’t stop her cuddling Ollie, the ginger cat who hurried to say hello to us.
She was taken there supposedly because she was vicious, it was obviously an excuse to be rid of her because a more friendly and gentle cat you couldn’t hope to meet. She wanted to be in every photo and she just loves to be picked up and cuddled, Babz couldn’t resist, never mind her uniform, that would wash, Ollie smothered her in love. Then me too, she is so lovely, the sort of cat we’d love to bring home except that Walter and Jozef wouldn’t have been happy about that and anyway she is very settled and happy at Kays Hill, it is now her forever home.
We had a nice chat with Kevin and Leanne. Dan is their right hand man, Kevin is supposed to take it easy as he hasn’t been well, but try telling him that! We don’t think he will ever rest while animals still need him!
Two of the resident goats came to meet us, Sid and Valentine, such beautiful animals and Kevin brought Pepsi the Macaw to see us. He has a very sad story, he was kept in the dark for 15 years and had even been kicked. He’s very happy and cared for at Kays Hill now but so far he only trusts Kevin, who has a way with all creatures. We didn’t attempt to touch him as apparently he bites very hard and no wonder! How could anyone mistreat an innocent bird!
Kevin and Leanne and now Dan who helps them too, have hearts of gold and work tirelessly caring for the unwanted, stray and abused animals and birds who end up in their care.
As always, Kays Hill volunteers have done lots of fund raising lately, but the money coming in is never enough with over 300 creatures to feed and care for, also official red tape rules and regulations have cost money for fences which had to be erected to separate different species, on top of the cost of repairs to damage caused by bad weather. Everything has to be approved by health and safety before the public are allowed to visit and with no Open Days for a while, money has been lost.
But they came up with a new idea to raise more funds when visitors are allowed again…..to start a small Coffee Shop. Local businesses and various people have kindly donated chairs and tables, cloths and crockery, it’s almost ready to open! We had a look inside, it’s beautiful and clean and attractively set out, hopefully it will do well.
Leanne told us it would be a simple menu, probably bacon or sausage sandwiches. She must have seen our faces fall because she quickly added there would be meat free options and cooked in vegetable oil, good news for us and other vegetarians. More work for them to do, but we hope their Coffee Shop is a great success.
We were as always made very welcome and after handing over the donation and the cat food and taking some photos, we left them to get on with their never ending work with all the animals they care for.
Now we are looking forward to our next visit, when we have another collection of food or money to take to them, hopefully soon.
Kays Hill are putting banners up to thank the local businesses who support them, this is the one Babz took up to them for her firm, it’s looking good and hopefully might encourage more businesses to give them much needed support too!
Lovely reading your article and seeing all the photos; I feel like I’m there with you all! Lol. Leanne, Kevin and Dan must work so hard to keep everything going and the love of Ollie and Pepsi and all the other animals must make it all so worth it. God bless you all
We are always happy to see Ruth and Barbara at the sanctuary, and not just because they never turn up empty handed!! lol.
We know how you feel about cats (animals in general, but with a bigger soft spot for cats and there is always a cat here that wants a fuss, if not Ollie (its usually Ollie to be honest)there is also sox, sophie (a 19yr old ‘feral’), tipsy, georgie, coby, Sammy (with only 1 eye), tinker (sammys brother), these are the cats we laughingly call our ferals. they are not really feral just a bit unsociable at times so we don’t rehome them they live here on site and do their own thing (mainly eating and sleeping!)they seem happy enough with us and enjoy contact on their terms (how unusual for a cat!!) some we can stroke and fuss others are not so sure but always come to us when there is food on the go so we see them all the time and can keep an eye on them. we also have cats pop in from time to time, we are surrounded by farms etc so there are always cats around. we sometimes see cats that we think have been dumped but we can never get close enough, there is a wood at the back of us and we are surrounded by fields so there is too much space to hide and run but there is always food in our ‘feral’ unit so they can eat if they want to. its sad that people care so little that these poor animals are just thrown out to fend for themselves. although, I think in some cases they are probably better off fending for themselves rather than being at the mercy of cruel ‘people’. anyway, enough of my ramblings, thank you Barbara and ruth for your continued support, thank you Michael for letting me ramble and thank you all on poc for your kind words. speak again soon
You can ramble anytime you like on PoC. I do it all the time 😉
I am a great fan of Kays Hill. Hard but awesome work.
I could ramble for England Michael once I get started. especially if annoyed!! lol