Raystede was delighted to welcome the MP for Lewes, James MacCleary along with his family, for a visit to our site in Ringmer.
During his visit, James learnt more about the vital work carried out to help animals through rehoming, rehabilitation and by offering sanctuary. He also discussed our various education initiatives, including those out in the local community with Head of Education and Prevention, Gemma Price.
As part of his visit, James toured the small animals area and met some of the many rabbits and guinea pigs available for adoption. The tour then took in Project Terrapin, our dedicated sanctuary for injured and unwanted terrapins.
There he met Small Animals supervisor, Vickie Gorst, who explained about the poor welfare of terrapins and how Raystede’s terrapin project is helping educate and inform people about these much mis-understood creatures.
Commenting on the visit, Stephanie Smith, Chief Executive at Raystede said: “It was lovely to welcome our local MP, James MacCleary to Raystede along with his family. It was particularly appropriate that the visit took place on International Women’s Day as it was our founder, Miss Raymonde-Hawkins who established Raystede 73 years ago on this site and we’ve been part of our local community ever since.
“We were particularly pleased to be able to share more information with James about our education work as we are committed to helping people understand more about animals and how they can care for the pets they have at home.”
James MacCleary said: “We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Raystede and it was lovely to learn more about their work and meet some of the animals available for adoption as well as those that call Raystede home.
“Having previously worked in animal welfare, I understand some of the challenges within the sector and so it was interesting to learn more about the initiatives and programmes the Raystede team have in place to raise awareness about good animal welfare.”