A YEAR IN REVIEW

After the excitement of Nigel’s Day on 13th June, and his newfound fame, it was very sad for us to realise that the day had arrived when a decision had to be made about his health and wellbeing. Nigel had arthritis in his shoulder which our vets were closely monitoring. Several treatments had been tried but Nigel was still in much pain – a sight we all found very distressing. After much discussion and consideration by our vets, our ethics committee and our sta , the decision was made to amputate Nigel’s leg at the shoulder. Research had shown that cats adapt extremely well to having three legs and we hoped that this would be the case for our lovely Nigel.

The morning of 9th September arrived along with several vets and following a seven-hour ground-breaking operation, Nigel emerged with just a few side e ects from his ordeal, mainly being a bit wobbly. Over the next few weeks, Nigel’s condition and wellbeing continued to be closely monitored and really did exceed all our expectations; he is now adapting very well to having just three legs. Nigel remains a rm favourite with our visitors and followers worldwide.

October, November, December 2022

Throughout 2022 our development team were hard at work building our very own space of tranquillity within the park. The Peaceful Plot was part funded by Calor and Shine and provides a space where people can rest and re ect. The Plot is based around an older person’s garden shed, with lots of tools to bring back memories. The Plot also features water, sound, and smell to celebrate all our senses. The grand opening and cutting of the red ribbon was carried out on 4th November by Lucy Krogdahl from Shine.

Last but certainly not least for 2022, we ended the year with one of our most ambitious Christmases ever. The team here at the Charity made the decision to o er free entry for everyone from 1st – 23rd December. This was a gesture very much aimed at supporting people in times of hardship and enabling everyone to have a lovely, festive day out together. We welcomed thousands of people of all ages through our doors and consider the initiative to have been a huge success. Over 100 Christmas trees were planted and lit to form our Enchanted Forest and Father Christmas was also able to spend a lot of time with us, greeting over 800 boys and girls who assured him they were all on his ‘nice’ list.

And with that, on 23rd December, we ended an extremely busy eighteen months! After a few days o to recuperate, we will start again. Doing what we do best. We look forward to welcoming you at the park sometime in 2023.