I was working in a nursery when the first lockdown took place. The nursery closed, I lost my job and was left feeling lost. I had plenty of free time and wanted some routine in my life.
I had pets, including chickens, which kept me busy. I saw that other animal charities were struggling to help animals during the pandemic, so decided I could help injured birds at my own home.
I created a Facebook page and people started contacting me and asking if I would take in animals that they had found while out on their walks.
It was amazing. I didn’t realise I would be inundated with people who wanted to help injured birds. I had people as far as Warwick getting in touch about some ducks and one person brought in a squirrel, which I helped with. I am lucky to have a fairly big garden, but I knew I couldn’t afford to keep buying food for all these animals.
I was getting messages from people in the community. I was giving them something to think about and something to do. I made an appeal for vegetables to feed the birds and people responded. Elderly ladies got in touch and offered to cut and chop the vegetables up for me in their homes and send it over for the birds.
Helping the animals opened up my world. In the past I had suffered with anxiety, which worsened during the pandemic. My confidence grew while I was working with the animals because I had to speak to people and communicate with them if they posted or messaged me using social media. There was never a day where I hadn’t anything to do.
As the venture grew and lockdown restrictions eased, I realised I would eventually have to start looking for work again. I needed money to keep the animals, and this is what motivated me to start applying for jobs.
I successfully got a job in a pre-school setting. I told them about my bird sanctuary, and they have all got involved in donating vegetables. The job allowed me to continue with the animals as well.
I couldn’t give it all up now, it has done so much for me personally.
Citizens Advice put me in touch with Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action (WCAVA), so I can think about becoming a small group and apply for funding so that I can expand things in the future. Lockdown started out being quite unsettling for me, but because of what I have achieved during the time I have spent at home, I am now more confident and have definitely come out of my shell.
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