|
The Pollyanna
Pickering Foundation
Established in 2001 by Wildlife Artist Pollyanna Pickering the
Foundation is a non-profit organisation which campaigns internationally
to prevent the exploitation of wildlife and raises funds to
support animal welfare and conservation projects worldwide.
For Fifteen years Pollyanna Pickering ran a Wildlife sanctuary
from her home in the Peak District of Derbyshire. Originally
established as a licensed registered keeper to care for and
rehabilitate injured and orphaned raptors,Pollyanna soon discovered
that once she began caring for birds of prey people brought
any wildlife in need of help to her door! As well as the many
hundreds of owls, hawks and falcons which passed through her
care, Pollyanna treated, reared and released numerous garden
birds, and almost every species of British mammal including
foxes, hares, squirrels and hedgehogs.
All the birds and animals Pollyanna cared for were rehabilitated
into the wild, unless too badly disabled to survive independently
in which case they were given a home with her for the rest of
their natural lives. Pollyanna funded the hospital – including
the treatment, medical supplies, feeding and rehabilitation
work entirely through a percentage of sales of her artwork.
Eventually after fifteen years of hands on care of Wildlife,
Pollyanna had to make the difficult decision to scale down the
sanctuary. Her increasing success in the art world was taking
her away from home for ever-longer periods of time, and she
was unable to secure permanent expert help to care for her patients.
However she was determined to find a way of carrying on her
conservation and rescue work with wildlife, and the Pollyanna
Pickering Foundation was established.
The Pollyanna Pickering Foundation was formally established
in June 2001 to continue Pollyanna's commitment to working for
the welfare of wildlife. The launch party was attended by guests
from around the world, including visitors from Spain, Holland,
France, Germany and Japan. The first fundraising event - a celebrity
garden party - was held later that summer.
Although the majority of our work is with wildlife, the Foundation
also makes occasional grants to other causes close to Pollyanna's
heart - supporting an orphanage in Ethiopia among other projects.
The Foundation continues in its original aim to help British
wildlife in need, and builds pens and aviaries,
provides equipment and medical supplies for sanctuaries and
wildlife hospitals throughout the UK.
The foundation has paid for the construction of aNew hospital
unit at the Cedar Wildlife Sanctuary
provided construction materials for new aviaries at Secret world
wildlife hospital, provided incubators and runs for hedgehog
hospitals and built artificial badger setts and tunnels at a
sanctuary in Northumberland to assist in the rehabilitation
and re-release of injured and orphaned badger cubs, among many
other projects.
The Foundation’s scope soon widened to raise funds for
the protection and rescue of wildlife worldwide as well as emergency
disaster relief. Funds have been raised to help protect Rhinos
in Africa, Wolves in Ethiopia, orphaned polar bears in the arctic,
and build a tiger orphanage in Nepal. We have helped to fund
construction of enclosures at Born Free’s big cat sanctuaries
in South Africa and Ethiopia. Equipment has been purchased for
project tiger rangers working in India, and many smaller grants
have been made to wildlife and environmental projects. Through
our exclusive adoption programmes, we support a wild cheetah
relocation programme in South Africa, and the care of Giant
Pandas in China.
The Foundation never forgets the individual animal –
we have helped fund the rescue of lions from a Romanian Zoo
and their subsequent transfer to the Born Free sanctuary in
South Africa. ‘Polly Bear’ is an Asiatic Moonbear
previously used in the unspeakably cruel bile bear trade in
Vietnam. The Pollyanna
Pickering Foundation funded the rescue of Polly Bear, and continues
to pay for his care at the
Animals Asia sanctuary. The Foundation also works to protect
the natural habitat and the environment, supporting selected
conservation projects from the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan to
the rainforests of Belize.
The Foundation campaigns actively for animal welfare internationally.
Petitions and letter writing campaigns have been organised to
help improve the welfare of animals in China, India, Canada
and the UK. We have provided materials for project tiger rangers
in India for their programme of talks in local schools, and
Pollyanna is pleased to be able to use her high profile in the
world of Wildlife Art to speak about conservation issues during
her popular talks and lectures and in the media.
Funds are raised through Pollyanna's exhibitions and talks,
an annual prize draw, donations, and one off special events.
Click here for information about
how you can help.
Help
raise money for the Pollyanna Pickering Foundation while you
shop online! Click here for further
information on this and other ways in which you can help.
Click
here to make a secure online donation of £10.00 towards any
Pollyanna Pickering Foundation appeal
If you prefer to make a donation by cheque please Click
here for a printable form
|
