Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary appealing for donations to replace roof on donkey stable

Date published: 12 November 2021

Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary’s donkeys and mules are hoping to have an accommodation upgrade as their stable needs a new roof.

The Edenfield sanctuary, which is just outside of the Rochdale borough, is appealing for donations to help build a new roof for the likes of Flash, who has barbed wire scars on his body from a past life, and Fergus, who was seen being beaten up at a horse sale eight years ago before he was bought by a kind person and given to Bleakholt.

The donkey stable desperately needs an upgrade from its dilapidated state, which has become rotten and leaky over time.

Head of Stables, Natalie Hill said: “It’s coming up to winter and we want them to be snugger than they are now.

“They have been living in their shelter which now needs an upgrade. There is asbestos which needs removing, but this is expensive so that’s where some of the cost will go.”

Bleakholt houses 10 donkeys and three mules, eight of which have been rehomed under the Donkey Sanctuary’s Guardian scheme, to live out their lives at the 55-acre site, along with horses, ponies, pigs, hens and more. Its latest mules from the Donkey Sanctuary – Dottie and Molly – were respectively abandoned at Appleby Fair, and relinquished due to a previous owner's change of circumstance.

Natalie continued: “Dottie and Molly are settling in, and we do have ‘donkey social workers’ from the Donkey Sanctuary who come and check that their donkeys and mules are all good.

“We want to give them the best home we can and so we are hoping people can donate, however small. We also have a new sponsorship package for our donkeys: you can sponsor a donkey for £30 and get a sponsorship kit including a trolley key, badge and framed photo in return.”

“We love our donkeys and mules as they all have such different characters and personalities, like Hughie, a Mediterranean miniature donkey, who loves Ana, the only female donkey, and defends her honour. We also have Marty the mule, who was living in a housing estate in Newcastle and being ridden around by children before he was brought here.

“Donkeys like to be in pairs, so they do pair up easily. They aren’t waterproof like horses, but they are strong and very clever; they try to outwit you all the time.”

Bleakholt originally began as a donkey sanctuary when Olive Lomas saved a donkey, Maudie, from slaughter with the sanctuary at Bleakholt Farm formed in 1957 before Bleakholt became a registered charity in 1968.

Donations towards a new stable roof can be made here, whilst you can also sponsor any Bleakholt animal, including the donkeys and mules, here.