Call for every person in Bexhill to donate £1 to animal charity

A charity is appealing for every resident living in Bexhill to donate £1 at its shop in the town centre.
Barby Keel SUS-180808-150733001Barby Keel SUS-180808-150733001
Barby Keel SUS-180808-150733001

Barby Keel Animal Sanctuary, based in Freezeland Lane, Sidley, had to cancel its popular open day this year due to roadworks.

The charity was left ‘devastated’, as it has run the event every year for more than 30 years.

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Barby Keel, from the sanctuary, said the charity has lost out on around £12,000 due to the open day being scrapped, which was due to take place on Sunday (August 12).

She is now urging everyone in Bexhill to donate £1 at the sanctuary’s shop in St Leonards Road.

Barby said: “When people come to the open day they always bring donations. But because we can’t hold it this year we’ve lost £12,000, which is a lot of money.

“Our open day always pays for the hay and straw for the year and we need to cover the costs for that.

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“Hay and straw is a must for the sanctuary. We can’t manage without it. Because of the hot weather we’ve had recently the price of hay and straw has already gone up.

“If everyone in Bexhill put £1 in the box at the shop in St Leonards Road that would more than cover us.”

Barby added that nearly £5,000 had been made so far since she broke the news that the open day was cancelled.

But she said that was through donations only to the sanctuary in Sidley.

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Barby said: “I’m very grateful to everyone who has donated at the shop and through other donations to us. Howdens gave us a £400 cheque.”

Watermill Lane, which leads to the sanctuary, closed early last month as part of the construction process for the North Bexhill Access Road (NBAR), which is not expected to be completed until October.

A spokesman for Sea Change, which is responsible for the NBAR construction, said people from Sidley will still be able to visit the sanctuary via Watermill Lane’s northern end if they use the diversion route via Ninfield and Catsfield.

Anyone coming from the north will also have access to the sanctuary via Watermill Lane as normal, Sea Change said.

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Anyone wanting to donate to the sanctuary online can visit barbykeel.btck.co.uk.

The charity is also holding a table sale on September 8 at Christ Church Hall, St Leonards to raise funds.

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