Ealing wildlife centre forced to close

4:04pm Monday 13th October 2008

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A WELL-loved wildlife centre has been forced to shut after running out of money.

The London Wildcare Field Centre, based in Walpole Park, has been desperately trying to raise funds to stay open.

However, it shut its doors this morning after finally running out of money, much to the dismay of the charity which runs it.

Ted Burden, founder of the London Wilcare Trust which has been running the centre for the last ten years, said: "We’re obviously devastated at the thought of losing such a valuable resource, but don’t want to compromise on the quality of our care.

"The combination of a drop-off in voluntary contributions and the spiralling costs of animal feed, upkeep and administration now leaves me with no choice."

The Ealing Times launched a last gasp appeal earlier this year to try to raise support and sponsorship to keep the centre in Ealing open, and readers immediately rushed to help.

However, the charity said the response was just not enough to raise the £30,000 a year needed.

Mr Burden said: "Thanks to some local support, we managed to stay open through the summer.

"There has even been an increase in the number of people looking around, but unfortunately that doesn’t pay the bills."

The animal centre is visited by thousands of people every year, and was a highlight in the Ealing park for many local residents.

The centre is the only place to take sick and injured wildlife in west London, and hundreds of animals have been treated by staff over the years.

Some of the animals, who could not be re-released to the wild, remained at the centre and were seen by visitors on a daily basis.

The centre lost its funding from Ealing Council around four years ago, and has had to rely on voluntary contributions and benefactors.

However, the decision was taken last week that the situation had become unsustainable.

The charity is still keen on the idea of having a centre in west London, but will be forced to moved the animals to its Croydon base in the next couple of weeks unless a major funding injection is found.

If you can want to donate money to the centre and help it re-open in Ealing, you can contact Clive Davis on 07753 374 628.