Six months to save our charity: North Devon otter rescue pleads for help

An urgent appeal has been launched with just six months to save a beloved otter rescue charity after it was forced to find a new home.

The UK Wild Otter Trust (UKWOT) needs to raise £15,000 to dismantle and move its otter rescue and rehabilitation centre after it was given the deadline to move from its current home.

The trust, which rescues injured and sick otters from around the UK and restores them to health before releasing them back into the wild, has been instructed to leave its current North Devon location.

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The charity has been offered a new site but now urgently needs to raise money to cover the costs of dismantling, moving and rebuilding its essential facilities while continuing to look after otters and cubs already in its care.

Above: Scratch was rescued from an Ipswich riverbank in June of this year after his mother was presumed killed in a road accident. Credit: UKWOT

Founder and CEO Dave Webb said that on September 18 he received four months’ notice to leave his residential home and six months’ notice to dismantle and move all otter centre materials, animals, and associated equipment. The organisation must also restore the land to its original paddock condition as part of its agreement.

He said: “To say we are shocked is an understatement. Breaking down the centre, which includes 20 otter enclosures and our otter hospital, will take time. It took almost four years to build to the high standard we need to deliver our work.”

Despite the setback, the rescue has secured a vital lifeline. A supporter has generously offered a new site in North Devon, where the charity plans to rebuild.

Above: Trust CEO and founder Dave Webb is urgently appealing for public donations to help save their rescue charity after they were instructed to leave their current home. Credit: UKWOT

But establishing and equipping the new location, while simultaneously decommissioning the existing site, presents significant logistical and financial challenges.

Dave added: “In the meantime, we need funds in the bank to keep operating, to feed the cubs currently in our care and to cover essential bills such as electricity, water and other running costs.

“We estimate the total cost of moving, demolishing and rebuilding will be around £15,000. If we do not meet this target, the UK Wild Otter Trust will not survive. Years of work could be lost.”

“I have been dedicated to otters since 1998 when I first formed the UK Wild Otter Trust. To know the rehabilitation centre will be gone within six months is devastating to all involved.

“I am grateful for the space the landlords have afforded us over the last four years, but it is still devastating to be told to leave after such long-standing reassurances that we were safe.

“I truly thought we had struck gold living so close to where Tarka the Otter was filmed and having access to the land for the centre. That adds an extra sting.”

Dave initially set up the trust in 1998 to work with local anglers to raise awareness for otters and see them protected. The charity went public in 2006 and has grown steadily, rescuing otters – often cubs injured after their mother is killed in a road accident.

The volunteers respond to calls for orphaned or abandoned cubs all over the UK - in June they rescued an eight-week old cub from a riverbank in Ipswich.

It can take up to a year and costs around £3,000 to rehabilitate a young cub before they are ready to be returned to the wild.

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Dave said: “We remain entirely volunteer-run. None of us takes a wage. Every pound donated goes to the animals and the work itself. We will, of course, ensure that all otters currently in care are the priority, as usual, and we will overcome this with your help.

“This is no small task, and I know it is a big ask. “But my priority, as always, is the cubs. Please, dig deep and help us protect the UK’s otters and save our charity.”

If you would like to donate to the emergency appeal, please go to https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-save-our-otter-charity