The Farmhouse
Fen Bank, Friskney
Lincolnshire
PE22 8PS
Tel: 01754 820593
Tel / fax: 01472 822979
Newsletter
Summer 2009 The Archives
And suddenly it is Summer- well sort of, the temperature today has been 7 degrees ,but we hope for better as we rush towards Midsummer Day – in just three weeks! This has been a tempestuous four months since the last Newsletter, marked by sadness and success in probably less than equal measure. In April we said goodbye to DI one of our old sponsor dogs who was beginning to fail dreadfully quickly- she had been with us since 2002 so it was a dreadful wrench for all who knew and loved her, especially Jack her long term kennel companion. Fortunately another venerable lady, as sweet brindle girl called Molly came along soon afterwards and Jack has a glint in his old and rheumy eye once more! Very soon after that an event occurred that has shocked everyone to the core - the death of one of our own dogs who was boarding whilst his owners were away. We and our Vet are sure that nothing could have been done that was not done to save him, but the Trustees have decided that once our present commitments are honoured, we shall only take dogs back in absolute emergency such as bereavement, family illness, fire, flooding etc The pressure on our homing spaces is enormous and although only one kennel is allocated to boarding, invariably there are two or three dogs in respite at any one time –and that means three dogs in desperate need cannot be taken in. Fortunately there are two good licensed kennels nearby to which we can direct owners for their dogs care whilst they are away.
The third thing- they always do run in threes don’t they? Involved me and the Sanctuary van just a few days later when I was returning from the vets with a comatose dog on board. I stopped for a driver turning right in front of me and the next thing I was aware of was glass shattering ,a huge jolt, the dashboard landing in my lap, and travelling two hundreds down the road without any help from me! The dog fortunately was in a cage behind my seat and escaped most of the showered back window, he was moved across the van by the impact and was a bit more dazed than the anaesthetic would normally allow, but was fine the next day, and if he remembered it he didn’t tell me! I was astonished when I pulled myself together to discover that I had been hit by a Tanker, the forty ton variety, and I know that the Fen Bank Guardian Angel was on duty that day, because I should have been dead! The driver was apologetic – but the end result is that the sanctuary van has been written off at just over 2 years old and for a pittance- Norwich Union certainly didn’t “quote me happy” and the Sanctuary has to find at least another eight thousand pounds in order to replace it with a vehicle of equivalent age and condition! We have written to the Managing Director of White’s Recycling in Grantham, suggesting that as one of his driver’s has put the Charity in a very difficult position he might care to offer a donation……….we wait to hear.
After such events it is an absolute pleasure to reflect on the fact that BUSTER and BREEZY with us for well over two and a half years, have been in their new home together for nearly two months and we are so grateful to the lovely couple who came to the kennels and would look at no other dog save these two. All is going well except that Buster’s bladder is a little unpredictable at times-what a lucky pair they are after such a long wait for this very loving home.
Another hard to home dog FLOSSIE who was piteously insecure when she first arrived from Cork Animal Welfare, but has flourished under Jenny’s very special brand of TLC, is now also in a wonderful home and we have the pictures to prove it- several of them!
BADGER too, has found a lovely home with one of the very first friends of Fen Bank and her Rottie, which has delighted his small army of admirers –he is a beautiful elderly five with a rapacious appetite and a very loving nature- and finally after a year he has the home he deserves.
Others too have gone to new homes, and although homing has been much slower than last year it is still the case that we have the best owners ever, and we daily thank them for the care and love and attention given to our dogs.
Jenny is compiling an album of all the Fen Bank dogs homed since 1997 so if you have a picture of your dog ( even if it has gone to Rainbow Bridge) can you please write the name on the back and send it to her at the Sanctuary? We have a recent archive of dogs homed since we started the website, but many of the dogs are homed before they make it onto the site and it would be lovely to have pictures of all in their new homes- it may be they could star in the 2011 Fen Bank Calendar!
Speaking of which, the 2010 Calendar is about to hit the shelves! Featuring all Fen Bank Dogs including the Sponsor dogs and some stunning pictures. Jill our new Treasurer did the initial art work and then handed the project over to a local printer whom she persuaded to work for a pittance and the result is a super Calendar with large squares for you to write notes in daily – so far everyone who has seen the proof copy has ordered one or several copies – before it had actually been printed! It will be on sale by the time this Newsletter reaches you for £6.00 including postage and packing. Or you can pick one up at one of our fundraising events for £5.50- and we do need the cash we hope it will raise!
This is a good place to say thank you to Jill who started out as an owner, offered to help and took on some administration and then became Treasurer, fundraising co-ordinator, computer art work designer and a whole lot more. She now has the life I used to have (except that computers are still a nightmare to me! and my love for these gracious dogs is undiminished, twenty two years on from getting my hands on my first greyhound! ) Jill says she is loving it-and we would be lost without her ! Thank you Jill and thank you to all the Trustees , Jenny and her team who are all working well together and giving me the chance to step back from my obsession! Fen Bank will always be mine, but I do need a break after 12 years of nonstop work, and I am very grateful to all those who are making it possible, and I will always be there to help and advise when needed.
Organisations evolve, and Fen Bank has taken on a life of its own which is greater than one person, good people have taken over, it has an active Patron in Daphne Ledward who has raised thousands of pounds for us, as well as giving a home to three of our most lovable characters, Muffin, Bloobell and Discit! And there are many volunteers who do enormous amounts of work for the love of the dogs. I can’t however give up the Newsletter or the dogs, they will always come first and my special relationship with Jenny whose home finding talent is extraordinary and whose compassion for the dogs is outstanding, is something I value deeply.
Work in Progress has been an item on the Agendas for Trustees Meetings for over a year now and we have to thank the Council for overturning the noise complaint against us, because it has provided an opportunity to look at our provision and re- evaluate it. We were commended for best practice in managing the noise issue and a lot more fencing has gone up, but with Jenny’s determination to get the best for less, a whole host of new measures are in progress to improve the service we offer to visitors, the standard of kennelling, ( we have been told we qualify for a Boarding Licence (but we don’t want to imperil our rescue work) is high on the Agenda- and we are very grateful to Jenny’s husband Shaun for all his weekend work to help make things happen! Ironically, the complaint against us for noise has brought us enormous local support from people who thought we were “a good thing” but never felt they needed to do more, and now they are - and we are very grateful to them - we do try very hard to be good neighbours.
So, a mixed bag of good news and bad, we are desperate for funds, and if you don’t have a penny jar for the dogs please consider starting one- it’s amazing how pennies mount up! Or like Abbey and Kewell’s owner perhaps you could make some cakes and sell them at work? Ann in Scotland raised £2000 last year doing just that- except that she doesn’t work- she’s too busy caring for a lot of greyhounds and making cakes! Patrick’s owner knitted us some splendid coats which flew out, so did Jane Howard, and Pauline and Jean in London have raised many hundreds of pounds with their knitted coats for little dogs which we sell in the shop together with their lovely hand made cards! Jodie’s owner made us some lovely collar tassles in vibrant colours which we are selling at £4.00 each, and we have had two dolls houses made and donated by a kind gentleman in Norfolk- if he could see what Daphne Ledward made of his little cottage he would be amazed- I was!
Sandra Davis
Founder Fen Bank.