25 March 2020

Latest coronavirus statement

Following the new actions outlined by the Government on Monday evening to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, we wanted to update you on how Redwings is responding to these measures.

As a national animal welfare charity, we have always taken hygiene and biosecurity standards very seriously and wish to play our part in helping the country through this current crisis. Any members of staff not directly involved in horse care, and those who can perform their roles remotely, are now working from home

Our main enquiries number (01508 481000) remains open for those wishing to place gift orders, sponsor an Adoption Star or make a donation, between the hours of 8.30am and 4.30pm. However, where possible, we would urge supporters to make use of our website where they can still do all of the above and this will help us deal with any enquiries as quickly as possible while our office workforce is reduced.

A reduced office workforce also means our welfare line has been closed for the time being, but anyone with a welfare concern can still email welfare@redwings.co.uk or submit information via our website here and our team will respond. Our Field Officers will continue to investigate reports where possible, subject to considerations over travel and social distancing.

In light of the Government’s new measures, we have also suspended our rehoming scheme for now. Anyone who is in the process of rehoming a Redwings horse or pony will be contacted with further advice, and we remain contactable for all our current Guardians in need of advice during this difficult period.

We also remind everyone that our visitor centres are now closed until further notice, and all events and activities due to take place have been cancelled or postponed. However, please keep an eye on our social media pages where we’re sharing plenty of daily photos of our rescued residents to keep you smiling. We’ve also launched the Youngs Reds At Home Academy, providing a wide variety of free downloadable activities, quizzes and colouring sheets for your little ones to help them to stay entertained (and learn a thing or two about horse care!) while at home.

Most importantly, we have over 1,500 rescued horses, ponies, donkeys and mules living at our sites across the UK and we want to take this opportunity to say thank you to all our amazing vets and equine carers who, in challenging times, are still ensuring our residents get the very best of care. If you would like to donate to help us be there for them, please click here. As a registered charity 100% funded by donations from the public, your support really does go a long way, especially now. Thank you!