Care Packages in Lockdown

64 care packs sent to rabbit and guinea pig rescues

During the very early stages of the pandemic lockdown, it became clear that many rescues were going to start struggling very quickly. Donations stopped almost overnight, rehomings were not possible, and in a growing number of situations, people could simply not go out to buy the essentials.

With the very generous help of a few key suppliers, we came up with a bit of a plan...

We asked our lovely Facebook followers to let us know of any rescues close to them that may need help.

We were overwhelmed with the number of rescues we were told about. From around the country, rescues great and small needed support. In addition to the basic needs, many rescues were finding a sudden increase in rabbits, guinea pigs and others being surrendered to them, as people themselves struggled to cope in the lockdown.

So the 'bit of a plan' soon became a bit of a challenge!

Having secured donations from a number of lovely suppliers, for several weeks during the peak of the lockdown, we started preparing Hay Experts Care Packages in addition to our normal operations.

Getting the essentials out quickly was important; our Care Packs focussed on the essentials - hay (obviously!), food and some other additions, as we know how much of a struggle it has been for many rescues over recent weeks; a struggle financially, and also emotionally too.

We managed to dispatch 64 Care Packages to both rabbit and guinea pig rescues all around the UK.

We hope our Care Packs helped each rescue, and made the human recipients smile a little too.

Some of our Care Pack recipients include Wheek & Squeak Guinea Pig Rescue & Boarding, Windwhistle Warren Rabbit Rescue, Gloucestershire, The Littlest Lives Rescue, The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary (for guinea pigs with extra needs), Tameside rabbit and guinea pig rescue, Scunthorpe Rabbit Rescue, Piggies In A Pickle, Hull Animal Welfare Trust, HONEYBUNNIES - RABBIT & GUINEA PIG RESCUE, Clement Rabbit Rescue, Borders Pet Rescue and Avalon Guinea Pig Rescue to name but a few.

Our warmest thanks to those that helped us achieve this amazing figure: to Friendship Estates Ltd (producers of Readigrass) whose generous donation started all this off. To Rosewood Pet Products whose donation of lovely woven rabbit and guinea pig tunnels helped to bring fun to some packs. To Supreme Petfoods: Experts in small pets for boxes and boxes of food, and to Petlife International Limited whose Oxbow donation truly brought a tear to our eyes!

Finally, a personal thanks from me (Lisa) to the entire Hay Experts team, who have worked tirelessly on this project during some truly extraordinarily challenging times; collating so many nominations and preparing each Care Pack with love and cheer, in addition to the normal daily workload. Definitely a marathon rather than a sprint, but we got there!

It's truly amazing what we can achieve #WorkingTogether

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