He’s Here! 🐴

After many sleepless nights and worries between Hugs staff and vets, we are delighted to announce that Meg gave birth to a little colt foal over the weekend!

Both Meg and the foal are doing well, it took a little while for them both to get the hang of feeding but Meg is being a fantastic first time mum and is doing everything she can to help her little son feed.

There have been so many worries for Meg and her baby over the past few months. From her young, immature body dealing with the weight of pregnancy (which shouldn’t have been at her young age!), her occasional incontinence depending on what position the foal was laying in, to struggling to get up from laying down at times. She has also had huge hormonal changes bringing about big behavioural problems towards other horses from a usually sweet and kind little pony. Our fantastic vets have been on standby as we were expecting Meg to struggle giving birth with her own tiny, young frame.

However, thankfully she did a fantastic job and delivered her little baby at speed on Saturday evening. So quickly, in fact, that the staff, who had made her a huge comfy straw bed weeks ago ready to move into when she began showing signs of labour, had to assist her delivery in her regular overnight stable instead.

Meg is being a fantastic mother so far, she’s really taken to her new son and is very attentive of where he goes as well as showing him off to the staff and trusting them to handle him to check him over.

Our lovely vets at Penmellyn have been to check him over as he cheekily cantered his way around the stable with a few bucks to tell us all he wanted to get out to his field! Thank you to everyone who has supported and donated for Meg and this lovely boy. We now have the costs of ongoing care for them so please donate, if you are able to to help ensure their future. We look forward to keeping you updating with their progress!

Donate here: https://bit.ly/donatetohugs Thank you for your kindness 🤗

#rescuefoal #foal #newborn #rescuepony #animalwelfare #secondchances #positivechanges #animalrescue #charity #cornwall #hope #wellbeing #NeverMoreNeeded #kindness #support #workingtogether #horserescue #connectwithnature #makingadifference #adoptdontstop

 ew song has been released to mark World Autism Acceptance Week, and it is the brainchild of 2 autistic NHS colleagues in Cornwall.

Ian Summers, Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and David Kirwan, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust are the driving force behind ‘Welcome Home’. David says the idea came from a simple conversation about how to promote autism acceptance and grew from there:

“Everyone involved gave their time freely, because we believe in supporting positive change. This idea of an uplifting, hopeful and positive song was really what we wanted. That is what happened and that is amazing. The takeaway is that there is hope and that inclusion is important. My biggest thing that I really do love in all areas I work in is language. The change in language from the things we struggle with and the challenges we face, to hope and heading forward. The title of the song is ‘Welcome Home’. The lyrics are that you have arrived, you are home again, welcome home. You are with the people who understand you. It is about understanding and it is wider than just the autistic community, it is inclusion for everyone. Inclusion is where my heart and soul is”.

The song was written and voiced by confidence specialist and local singer Lucy Cox, using language shared by the Trusts’ autism and neurodiversity networks. Lucy is a parent of autistic children and tells us that as soon as she heard the idea, she was “in with both feet.” It is important that people really listen to the lyrics of this song. For those people who do not directly understand the autistic experience, try to empathise with how it must feel to believe you do not fit in and there is not a place for you, but also to feel like there is a hope for the future. To our wonderful autistic community, I want them to listen to the lyrics and feel that sense of hope. To believe there is so much more good stuff ahead, and to feel heard and seen”.

All money raised from the release of the song will go towards The Hugs Foundation. Hazel is the charity’s Youth Service Manager:

“We have helped over 700 children here at the charity and we hope to be able to continue to deliver that. Because we are a charity, we cannot do that without support. This song means so much to the charity and we are so excited. The song is absolutely amazing. When we all first listened to it, we were just frozen to our seats really. Realising how much it resonated with everybody in the Hugs team, we know it is going to mean so much to so many”.

‘Welcome Home’ is now available on Spotify. Listen to the song on Spotify here https://open.spotify.com/album/4wFpDK5xoD9tUZAzt2mKrP

Lucy has also set up a fundraiser on Just Giving, in support of The Hugs Foundation. Read more about the fundraiser here https://www.justgiving.com/page/autism-acceptance

Meet Poncho, Luna (right in photo) & Mabel (left in photo)

We now have four donkeys here at Hugs! Many of you will already know our beautiful donkey, Oscar, who has been with Hugs since 2021 and is part of the well-being team. Oscar arrived with a herd of miniature Shetlands when their owner could sadly no longer care for them, due to ill health. He formed a bond with our rescue pony Dude, but we knew he ideally needed his own donkey friends. Oscar is usually a little sad when Dude goes to his care home visits on a Tuesday afternoon, but now the new rescues are here, he is feeling a little happier and is slowly making friends with the other donkeys. Poncho has already made friends with Oscar and the famous Dude and they have been having lots of fun in the field!

We were recently contacted by an owner who, due to serious ill health, could no longer care for their three donkeys. It was an incredibly sad situation and the donkeys owner had turned to other charities to help but they couldn’t. With the urgency of the situation, our team desperately tried to make space to be able to take them in, which they were able to do thanks to some amazing homes coming forward for other ponies, freeing their spaces, although we are now full again!

We welcomed Luna, Mable and Poncho to Hugs and are pleased to say they have now finished their isolation, with clear strangles testing. All the donkeys have settled in well and have been making friends.

Luna unfortunately has an abscess and has been using the new turnout area connected to the barn to help with her recovery. She also has seedy toe so is a bit uncomfortable on her front feet with that and her abscess. Both our farrier and vet have seen her and prescribed a course of treatment but there is evidence of multiple previous abscesses, which could indicate a more serious problem historically, so we may need to investigate further with x-rays etc. With our vets bills already averaging £3,000 a month, we are struggling to find funding to help anymore. We simply wouldn’t be here without the kind donations from our supporters. If you are able to, please donate to help recues like Luna and her friends. Our regular donors are now donating over £1,500 monthly. How amazing would it be if we could double that and know that our vets bills were paid for every month?!

You can donate through this link. Thank you for your kindness.  https://thehugsfoundation.beaconforms.com/form/656e5db6

Luna has also just received her sweet itch vaccination, which will help to prevent irritation caused by insects, which can lead to skin inflammation.

Mabel is the friendliest of the donkeys. She loves attention, treats and cuddles! The new turnout area at the back of the main barn has been perfect for the donkeys, they have been able to keep out of this horrible weather and recover.

Did you know? Donkeys coats are not waterproof like a horse or pony. This means the water absorbs, making them very cold and wet. We are so glad that the all-weather turnout area is completed for them to use. All three donkeys will get to meet the farrier this week, and in the future, we will be looking to introduce the donkeys to our Shetland ponies, who will be in the field with the track system. This will help with the correct management of the donkeys, encouraging movement and offering shelter, hay, and straw. We are excited to share their journeys with you, and we will keep you updated on any donkey news, including lots of adorable photos and videos….

Brand new job role at Hugs!

🐴 Finance Officer – Part Time 🐴

We have an exciting new opportunity at Hugs for an experienced Finance Officer to join the team. The purpose of this role is to provide effective day-to-day management relating to all aspects of the charity’s financial operations and to make a difference to the strategic and day-to-day working practices of the charity. This is a new role within the charity and is expected to grow and develop over the coming years.

Hours of work: 4 hours per week to start, with potential to increase alongside the charity’s needs.

Salary: £20 per hour

For the full job description and an application pack, please email our Fundraising Manager, Laura Dennis at laura@hugsfoundation.org.uk.

“All appointments are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, including a satisfactory Enhanced criminal records (with Barred List check if the role will be actively engaged in regulated activity) through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).”

*Please note this role is fixed term for 1 year. We are hoping this will be extended, but it will depend on funding.

Closing date – 12th of April.

We are thrilled to be one of the lucky charities chosen by Craig and his amazing team at Boosters Limited.

The Boosters team love to support their community and there is no better way to do this then helping those in need. They have kindly decided to help 5 different local charities this year, with the hope of making a difference and bringing attention to the importance of these charities.

“Having met Laura at a networking event it was clear to see her passion for the foundation and on a visit it was amazing to see the good work being done by the whole team, there was a real sense of positivity everywhere you looked and it was an easy decision for Boosters to align with a charity which is striving to make a difference to so many, we are delighted to offer any support we can this year and we hope we can build a strong relationship that will last for many years to come.” – Craig Harrison, Sales Director

We are looking forward to working together and we hope more local businesses will follow suit to help charities support the Cornish community.

Due to increased demand, we are recruiting!

🐴 Yard Assistant/Stable Hand 🐴

The purpose of this role is to ensure the daily duties of the equestrian rescue and rehabilitation centre are undertaken to a high standard including the stable duties, site and land management. This role will include overseeing of cleaning the facilities to a high standard, ensuring hygiene is met, the stable facilities are tidy, and the daily list of duties is completed. Daily duties consist of stable routines (mucking out, filling up hay nets, cleaning equipment, bringing in equines and turning out), daily field and fence management, and assisting with overall site maintenance. To include all aspects of animal care and husbandry, and additionally assisting with vet, farrier, and public visits. Plus supporting fundraising for the charity to increase income through yard activities e.g. tack sales. The emphasis of this role is to maintain the stables and fields but there may be opportunity to progress within the charity.

Hours of work:

Standard hours are 40 hours per week over all 7 days, on a rolling rota, which will include weekend and bank holiday working. The hours required within this role include weekdays 8am-4pm and weekend cover of 8am-1pm both Saturday and Sunday. The charity is open to a job share option or splitting the 40 hours between part time roles.

However, due to the nature of the work of The Hugs Foundation and this post, it may be necessary to exceed these hours when the workload demands, for example, welfare emergencies.

Salary: £8.60 – £11.44 per hour (£17,888 – £23,795 FTE)

For the full job description and an application pack, please email our Animal Welfare Manager, Jana Merrett-Jones at jana@hugsfoundation.org.uk.

“All appointments are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, including a satisfactory Enhanced criminal records (with Barred List check if the role will be actively engaged in regulated activity) through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).”

*Please note this role is fixed term for 1 year. We are hoping this will be extended, but it will depend on funding.

The closing date is the 10th of March but may close sooner if sufficient applicants have been received.