Every year throughout spring and summer, WRAS sees 100’s of baby birds come into care because they are orphaned, injured, or have had their nests disturbed. Most need feeding from early in the morning to late in the evening, as often as every 30 minutes. The orphans will range from hatchlings, nestlings and fledglings and each require their own care plan depending on the species.

The Orphan Rearing Assistant role involves hand feeding the baby birds round the clock, monitoring them, providing fresh bedding and disinfecting cages/incubators.

Orphan Rearing volunteers must be over 18 and able to commit weekly to a set shift from April – August.

Normal Shift patterns are as follows-

· 7am-10am Monday to Sunday

· 10am-2pm Monday to Sunday

· 2pm-6pm Monday to Sunday

· 6pm-10pm Monday to Sunday

This is a vital and rewarding front of house position supporting our dedicated and passionate Care Team & Rescuers. You will be the welcoming face to all visitors to the WRAS Care Centre.

Providing day to day support in a variety of administrative duties, answering incoming calls from supporters, members of the public and other professional bodies. Entering information onto WRAS’s Database and always adhering to all GDPR.

Shift pattern times are flexible but we are looking for commitment to once a week from Monday – Sunday between 9am and 6pm.

We receive over 5,000 calls a year to our Emergency Rescue Line. Whilst some members of public can deliver their casualty to us, we rely on Rescuer Volunteer’s to attend the rescue’s which cannot be done by a member of public. In some cases the rescuer is responsible for catching and restraining the casualty ready for transportation. This can require a certain amount of rational thinking and problem solving. Full training and equipment will be provided.

Rescuers must be over 21 and a confident driver. Our ambulances have fully comprehensive insurance and are insured for anyone over the age of 21 to drive.

Rescuer shift patterns are:
Full Day Rescuer – 10am – 6pm
Morning Rescuer – 8am – 1pm (March – September)
Afternoon Rescuer – 1pm – 6pm (March – September)
Evening Rescuer – 6pm – 10pm

This is a unique opportunity for you to fulfil your passion of caring for wildlife. Our poorly, injured creatures need you to feed and water them, keep them safe in a comfortable and clean cage until they are ready to be released back into their natural habitat. It is vital that our animals receive the highest standard of care to ensure a speedy recovery and a stress-free stay at our Veterinary Hospital.

You must be 18 or over to volunteer, however if you are between the age of 13 and 17 you may volunteer if you are accompanied by a responsible adult whilst you are volunteering.

The morning shift is 9am – 1pm and the evening shift is 5pm – 8pm. We ask for commitment to the same shift each week.

Please read the Animal Care Assistant Role Description before applying.