The RSPCA Needs You - could you join our ‘army’ of wildlife casualty volunteers

The RSPCA is looking for animal lovers who would like to train as a wildlife casualty volunteer and support the vital frontline work of our inspectorate in Cambridgeshire and surrounding areas.

Volunteers are trained to collect and transport sick, injured, or orphaned birds and small mammals and take them to our centres or appropriate veterinary establishments.

In just seven months, a milestone one thousand five hundred abandoned, injured or orphaned wild animals have been taken to treatment centres by the RSPCA’s army of Wildlife Casualty Volunteers across the country.

To ensure the RSPCA keep their volunteers busy and involved in their work , the charity only recruit where we have the greatest need for help. The RSPCA is now looking to expand that army in Cambridgeshire and is looking for kind-hearted animal lovers to cover the Peterborough, March, Wisbech, Cambridge and Huntingdon areas. They are also looking for volunteers for Haverhill, Royston and Newmarket.

So far across the country 150 dedicated volunteers have signed up to give their time helping to collect and transport animals in need of care to vets and approved wildlife centres.  

Wendy Wasels, Volunteer Development Manager at the RSPCA said:  “Our Wildlife Casualty Volunteers play a vital role supporting our Inspectors and Officers who are on the frontline.

“These dedicated volunteers are trained to handle, collect and transport birds and small mammals to vets and approved wildlife.”

RSPCA Inspector Richard Lythgoe added “The volunteers play a vital and important role for the RSPCA  and make a real difference in helping wildlife in their local areas. What’s also important to us inspectors is that they help to reduce the amount of time we spend on driving to collect birds in boxes and allow us to concentrate  on case work, complaints, collections and other rescues.

“The volunteers really have made a positive impact on the work of the RSPCA.”

The Wildlife Casualty Volunteer (WCV) pilot programme has been running since March 2016. The 2017 recruitment campaign resulted in 150 new WCVs across most of the RSPCA’s Inspectorate group areas. Although still in its pilot stage, a country-wide roll-out is anticipated for 2018.

To find out more please visit: https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/volunteer/vacancy/details/-/vacancyId/2481/establishmentId/653

Applicants will need to live in the towns/areas listed above and be available for training on 10 October 2017 11.00am-3.30pm at RSPCA Block Fen Animal Centre, Block Fen Drove, Wimblington, March, PE15 0FB.

Please email volunteersupport@rspca.org.uk for an application form, letting us know which area you would be interested in covering. Closing date for application forms Friday 29 September 2017.