East Sussex WRAS

16/10/2026

Meet and support East Sussex WRAS at A Winter’s Day on Ashdown Forest!

We’re delighted to be joining Ashdown Forest’s "A Winter’s Day" event. Come along, enjoy the festive atmosphere and stop by to meet us and find out more about how WRAS helps injured and orphaned wildlife across East Sussex and pick up a Xmas gift or two from our stall which will be on the decking.

There’ll be festive treats, children’s activities, local stalls, demonstrations and more. Entry and activities are free, and parking is free too.

📍 Ashdown Forest Centre, Wych Cross
🗓️ Saturday 12 December 2026
⏰ 11am–3pm

It’s one of several events we’ll be attending in the run-up to Christmas. We hope to see you there!

Event details:

You are cordially invited to join Ashdown Forest’s fourth annual Winter’s Day event! Saturday 12th December 11am – 3pm     What to expect: Festive treats: warm spiced apple punch, hot chocolate and coffee, plus seasonal sweets Children’s craft activities: led by our Education Team Communit...

16/10/2026

🎶 Enjoy a great night of music and help wildlife in need 🎶

Hailsham Voices and Eastbourne Voices are joining together for Voices in Harmony—a special evening of popular songs performed by around 150 singers at the Winter Garden in Eastbourne.

The concert is especially close to our hearts: choir leader Abbie Marsden is one of WRAS’s key rescuers, helping injured and distressed wildlife across our area.

WRAS will be there with collection buckets as you leave. If you’re able to make a donation, it will help us continue rescuing and caring for local wildlife. We’d love you to come along, enjoy the music and support both the choirs and WRAS.

Date: Saturday 7 November 2026
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: The Winter Garden, Eastbourne
Tickets: Adults £14 and children £7.

🎟️ Tickets: https://trafalgartickets.com/eastbourne-theatres-eastbourne/en-GB/event/music/voices-in-harmony-tickets

Please share and help spread the word!

15/10/2026

Could you spare a minute to help East Sussex WRAS win £5,000?
The Movement for Good Animals & Wildlife Special Draw is now open, with 10 animal and wildlife charities each receiving a £5,000 grant.
And this is one of those occasions where every nomination really does help — the more nominations a charity receives, the greater its chance of winning!
We'd love as many of our supporters as possible to nominate East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (WRAS) Reg Charity 1108880.
👉 Nominate WRAS here:
https://movementforgood.com/draws/special/animals-wildlife/
It only takes a couple of minutes, costs absolutely nothing, and could help us secure £5,000 towards our work rescuing and caring for sick, injured, orphaned and trapped wildlife across East Sussex.
Nominations close Sunday 18 October, so please nominate us today — and if you can, share this post with friends, family and local groups too.
Thank you for supporting East Sussex WRAS.

15/10/2026

Last Thursday, WRAS’s Deer Disentanglement Team rescued a fallow buck whose antlers had become tangled in electric rope in a field off Wadhurst Lane, near Battle.

He was a smaller buck, but the smaller deer can often be the liveliest. The team carefully shortened the rope to reduce the slack, then placed a blanket over his head so Thea could safely take hold of a rear leg. Abbie quickly helped control his shoulder while Immy and Steve cut away the rope, with Keith coordinating the team’s efforts.

This rescue needed particular care: three lengths of rope had tightened around the buck’s neck like chin straps. If he had stumbled or fallen the wrong way, they could have strangled him. Thankfully, the experienced team removed them quickly, and within minutes he was free and running across the field.

A great team effort, and a very welcome outcome for this lively young buck.

Your can support our amazing team by becoming a volunteer rescuers or making a donation to help support our costs. Check out the information on our website at www.wildlifeambulance.org

14/10/2026

🎄 Come and see WRAS at the Fairwarp Christmas Bazaar! 🎄

We’re looking forward to joining the festive fun on Saturday 5 December, from 10am to 12.30pm. Come and say hello, find out more about the wildlife rescue work we do across East Sussex, and show your support.

This is one of several events we’ll be attending in the run-up to Christmas, so keep an eye out for more dates soon. We’d love to see you there!

📍 Fairwarp Christmas Bazaar
🗓️ Saturday 5 December 2026
⏰ 10am–12.30pm

More event details:

Come along to Fairwarp's Village Christmas Bazaar on Saturday 5 December at 10am. So many stalls to browse and, of course, our pop-up cafe with bacon and sausage baps, sausage rolls, hot chocolate and refillable coffee and tea - yummy!Delicious organic bread and pastries from Home Farm Bakery They w...

14/10/2026

Where are we Wednesday - The answer is Ratherfinny W**e Estate near Alfriston to collect this Weasel from the amazing staff who found him injured. Thank you so much for caring and calling us out.

Well done Dan and Carla for getting the location right!

14/10/2026

Where are we Wednesday?

One of our ambulances has been out on a call somewhere in East Sussex. Can you guess where we were and what species we were called to help? Leave your guess in the comments—we’ll reveal the location and share the answer later today.

14/10/2026

On Friday 9 October, WRAS received an unusual and worrying call from a resident at Manton Court in Eastbourne.

Pairs of swans have lived and raised young in the d**e behind Leeds Avenue for many years, and WRAS has attended numerous swan rescues there over the past 40 years—from birds injured by dogs to swans covered in oil.

This time, the concern was a territorial dispute. An invading pair had moved into the resident swans’ territory, and the adults and young were being chasing and attacking by them. The caller told us the father was doing his best to defend his family.

Territorial disputes are a natural part of life for wild swans, and we can’t legally step in simply to stop them. We may need to act if a swan is injured or there’s an immediate danger to people or wildlife—for example, if a bird is driven towards a road.

Because the nearby cycle path can be busy, we sent a rescuer to assess the situation and advise local residents. Happily, the confrontation ended shortly after the WRAS veterinary ambulance arrived - I'm sure they can read!

The family with young eventually flew off, leaving the invading pair ruling the roost. We wouldn’t be surprised if the parents don't return at some point to try to reclaim their territory.

Usually, these disputes resolve when one family moves away or flies off to find a new territory. Serious injuries are uncommon, but they can happen—particularly in residential areas where dogs and traffic may add to the risks.

13/10/2026

East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service will be featured on ITV1’s Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh on Sunday 18th October 2026.

Tune in to meet members of our team—and watch this special behind-the-scenes video to discover more about the gull rescues they dealt with during an exceptionally busy summer.

What happens when young gulls fall from rooftops—and what does it take to give injured gulls another chance?

Today we have released a new video to allow you to see even further behind the scene. You can follow WRAS through one of the busiest parts of the wildlife-rescue year. From the moment a call reaches our Rescue Coordination Team, our rescuers travel across towns helping gulls in very difficult situations.

In this video, rescuers Abbie and Steve return healthy youngsters to safe rooftop locations at Eastbourne District General Hospital, Pashley Road and Hampden Park, allowing them to remain under the care of their parents. They also rescue an adult gull trapped in a sunken basement area and admit a youngster which cannot safely be returned to its roof.

Wherever it is safe and practical, returning an uninjured young gull to a suitable rooftop is normally the best outcome. It keeps families together and preserves our limited hospital space for casualties which are injured, unwell or cannot be returned.

Those admitted to WRAS receive veterinary treatment and dedicated care before joining gulls of a similar age. They progress from indoor accommodation to our new outdoor enclosure, where they can exercise, develop their flight muscles, acclimatise and become fully waterproof. A huge thank you to Pallet Track for donating the use of one of their lorries earlier this year to help us erect and set up our new outdoor enclosures, as well as the staff and volunteers who helped get them erected.

Once healthy, waterproof and flying confidently, every gull is assessed before being taken to a carefully selected beach for release.

WRAS has dealt with over 700 gull casualties so far this year, but demand regularly exceeds the space available across wildlife rescue organisations nationally.

Help us be there when wildlife needs us:

https://www.wildlifeambulance.org/

Thank you to our Rescue Coordination, Ambulance, Care and Veterinary Teams—and everyone whose support makes this work possible.

Watch Love Your Weekend on ITV1 on Sunday 18 October 2026.

13/10/2026

A rescue from a Brighton rooftop - Friday 9th October 2026

This gull was trapped on a very high roof, badly injured and clearly suffering. The roof was far beyond the reach of WRAS’s ladders, and trying to reach the bird ourselves could have put our rescuers and members of the public in danger.

Thank you to the Brighton crew from East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, who used their aerial platform to bring the gull down safely. Their help meant the rescue could be carried out without anyone taking that risk.

Sadly, the gull’s injuries were so severe that, after assessment, euthanasia was the only humane option.

Roof netting and loose line can become a serious hazard for wildlife. When netting is damaged, loose or poorly fitted, birds can get behind it or become entangled, suffering severe injuries before anyone notices.

There is no blanket licensing and routine inspection system for all bird netting on buildings. But wild birds and their nests are protected by law, and netting that traps or injures birds can raise serious legal concerns. Any netting needs to be properly installed, checked and maintained. Although wildlife protection laws apply, there is no routine inspection of bird netting on buildings, and individual incidents can be difficult to investigate and enforce. That makes prevention and regular checks especially important.

Planning a roof extension? Think about bird-safe design from the start. Depending on the building, a pitched roof and details that avoid suitable nesting ledges or gaps may reduce the need for netting altogether. Good design can help prevent problems before they arise.

Please check any netting on buildings you own or manage, and arrange for damaged or loose sections to be made safe. Never attempt a high-level rescue yourself.

I’ve kept the roof design point as a consideration rather than a guarantee: a pitched roof alone won’t prevent every bird from nesting, so the whole design matters.