http://www.manorfarmcharitabletrust.org/

Manor Farm Charitable Trust, Church View, Bilsthorpe, Nottinghamshire (2026)

09/06/2026

Our lovely pig Horace was enjoying a splash in his wallow this morning 🐷

Photo by Annice

26/05/2026

Could you be our next G.O.A.T? 😉

One of the brilliant members of our sanctuary team will be going back to university in September, so we're recruiting now for their replacement. In addition to delivering on all the animal welfare work described below, we're looking for someone who has the ambition to lead shifts and develop their management skills, becoming part of the team for the longer term. We'd love to have you with us if this developmental opportunity is for you!

SANCTUARY ASSISTANT POSITION (developing to Shift Leader)

Do you love animals and have always wanted to work with them? Don’t mind getting dirty and working outside? Want to be part of a small team that really gets things done? Then you might be the person we’re looking for!
Starting position - part-time, zero hours contract, National Minimum Wage

The job includes:
Following daily feeding and watering schedules.

🐑 Cleaning and maintaining animal housing, bedding and feed areas.

🐓Monitoring animal health and wellbeing.

🐐Reporting animal health or housing issues.

🐖 Assisting with all aspects of animal care, health and rehabilitation regimes.

💩 Cleaning and maintaining animal care equipment, including waste management (poo picking!).

🦆 Assisting with farm maintenance and repair activities.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Preparing for the next person coming on shift.

You must be over 18 to apply and ideally you will already have some animal handling experience with livestock or horses. You must be fit, strong, happy to work outside in all weathers, honest and trustworthy. Please be aware that the sanctuary is in a remote location without good public transport links, so you must be very local or have your own transport.

The role is part-time and follows a monthly rota and daily two-shift working pattern of 3.5 hours in the morning and 1.5 hours in the evening, including weekends. Start time is 7.30 am. The time of the evening shift varies as we follow the light as seasons change, so you must be available to work an earlier evening shift in winter months which can start at 3.30 pm in the afternoon. The monthly rota is agreed in advance with all members of the team.

If you’re interested in applying, please email us [email protected] along with details of your availability and experience. We’ll be arranging interviews at the sanctuary site in Bilsthorpe where you’ll meet the animals and be able to ask questions about the role.

We look forward to meeting you! 😊

04/05/2026

Hi everyone – after the sadness of losing Cilla on Saturday, I’m so sorry to tell you that we had to have dear Lisa put to sleep today.😢😢😢

Lisa had been suffering from a snuffly/snotty nose for a little while but many of our flock have ‘seasonal snots’ and it usually passes when the pollen calms down a bit. She’d been her usual active and feisty self, not needing any pain relief for arthritis unlike most of our oldies. She had a happy time at shearing on Friday and on Saturday seemed absolutely fine, although she was a bit quiet after Cilla was put to sleep. Yesterday morning she was out of sorts, very snotty and walking backwards at some points but after some pain relief she seemed better, was walking forwards and was out grazing with the oldies gang again. Last night she took another turn for the worse with very heavy breathing and this morning hadn’t perked up although was still capable of standing, so we called an emergency vet to see her. The vet thought pneumonia with a possible underlying lung condition like a tumour, maybe coming to the fore after shearing with the change in the weather. It wasn’t fair to keep her going as realistically the chances of recovery were very low, so the deed was done and she passed quickly, which is always a blessing. She was much loved here and a huge character – I know she’s really going to be missed 💔💔💔

Lisa came to us in February 2018 as an older ewe from a commercial flock looking for a safe retirement. Although she had a friend in Mary-Kate, she immediately palled up with Hilda the Herdwick and they became the ‘naughty girls’, always looking for mischief and treats. She was a ‘calendar girl’ too at one point, with her cute smiley face poking through gates and the stock fence for treats! Quietly persistent, Lisa gained a reputation for being assertive but very loveable – she has been a real favourite with the team and volunteers for her winning ways and calm demeanour. Healthwise she’s been no bother at all right until these last couple of days – her feet have always been sound, she’s loved her food without exception, and she’s always been a good girl for foot trims and the shearer.

For the past few months as it became more apparent that she was getting on – although still all there and feisty! – we’d moved her up to our oldies paddock to be initially with her friend Mary-Kate and then Cilla. She proved to be the leader of her little gang and made sure everyone knew that treats came to her first and under no circumstances could anyone else have dibs. We loved this about her – and of course those gorgeous eyes staring you down from her dappled nose made us all putty in her hooves.

So many lovely photos of Lisa to share with you, taken by all of us, including one of our wonderful volunteer Jane wearing a hoodie she’d knitted using some of Lisa’s yarn. It’s been a really tough May Bank Holiday here but seeing those happy photos reminds us that Lisa had a good long life and some special years with us which we’ll never forget.

As always, donations towards her vet and cremation costs – however small – are very greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support which means so much.

03/05/2026

Hello everyone – some sad news for a bank holiday weekend, I’m afraid. Our sweet Cilla has had to be put to sleep as she had lost mobility in her back end and was unable to stand 😢😢 She’d been struggling for a while with her front legs because of arthritis, but when she was down a lot before shearing it seemed to be something more. We were hopeful that getting the heavy fleece off her and a little bit of involuntary chiro from Mike the shearer might have helped things as it’s done in the past with other oldies, but sadly that wasn’t the case and she was really struggling, getting increasingly frustrated in her attempts to stand. Richard the vet came and put her to sleep yesterday morning and it was all over very quickly, she passed peacefully and without further stress.

Cilla came to us from South Wales in 2016 as a very young sheep along with Gail, Mindy, Matilda, Cristal and Spice. She’s always had the nicest disposition, and I know she’s going to be much missed for her cuddles and sweet upturned face looking for treats. One of our quieter characters who would never be at the front of the queue for anything with the competing rowdies (Hilda! Cristal! Gladstone!), for the past few months she’s been in our easy-care oldies paddock where everything and everyone was at her service. It was lovely to be able to give her some more individual attention. Always such a cutie, she was very babyish as a youngster and would often push into my lap for a snuggle. RIP darling Cilla – the goodest girl 💔

As always, any help with Cilla’s final vet and cremation costs would be very gratefully received – thank you for your support. We’ll be getting her ashes back later this week.

Photos by all of us.

23/04/2026

UPDATE: little kitty has been happily reunited with his owner, thanks to the power of microchipping! He’d been missing for 3 weeks so this was a very lovely reunion. Thanks to you all for your concern.

Hi everyone – there’s a very pretty, very young and friendly (unneutered) pale ginger male cat wandering around our site here at Manor Farm Charitable Trust, looking for attention and food. Has anyone lost him? He has a small fight wound behind an ear which could do with looking at.

Photos by Amy. Sheep + cat video in comments ❤️

21/04/2026

We’re in the happy days of peak egg production now that more light and heat are coming through with the spring weather. This means we have a couple of slots available for our Egg Club where you have regular supply of an agreed number of eggs each week and all the Egg Club donations go straight back to help our birds.

If you’d like to join the Egg Club, please message us via Messenger with how many eggs you’d like and which day you’d like to collect – at the moment we only have hen eggs available as our ducks are now old ladies enjoying a well-earned retirement. The price is £2.00 for six eggs.

15/04/2026

Dear all – I’m very sorry to report that our lovely Donna didn’t survive the surgery this morning for her tumour 😢😢😢

Charlotte the vet managed to successfully clear the tumour from her cloaca and things were looking good, but unfortunately while Donna was in recovery she passed away from the effects of the anaesthetic. We knew that there was a risk in doing the surgery, but it felt wrong not to try when the alternative was just to have her put to sleep. As someone living with a tumour, I felt most especially that Donna needed to be given every chance.

All the team at the Animal Doctor fell in love with Donna as we did – she was such a beautiful, gentle girl. Of course Eeny is now missing his beloved – he’s been very quiet on his own today so we have plans this evening to try to integrate him back with Mary and the ducks. Fingers crossed that goes well.

Photos by Amy of Donna’s last carry to the vets, and her special meal of melon. Thank you to Amy and Adam for such fantastic care of our girl on her final journey ❤️😢

All donations towards Donna’s operation and cremation costs very gratefully received – big and heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed so far.

14/04/2026

FRIDAY MORNING VOLUNTEER WANTED

The sun is shining, the birds are tweeting, you have a couple of hours spare on a Friday morning – what could be nicer than being outdoors doing a spot of poo picking to help your local animal sanctuary?

Sheep love and enhanced fitness guaranteed! No special skills or experience required – just a love of animals and the ability to work on a hillside in different weather conditions. A couple of hours of your time every week would be fantastic – our current volunteers will be happy to talk to you and show you what’s involved.

Interested? Please message us and we’ll invite you to come and have a look around and meet the animals, especially our beautiful sheep ❤️🐑🐑🐑🐑

Photos by Annice

13/04/2026

After DEFRA lifted the housing order on poultry following the avian flu outbreak, we’ve been steadily releasing our groups of birds back to their orchard paddock areas to enjoy the sunshine. Ducks first, then geese and finally hens today – hooray! 🎉🎉🎉

It’s been so lovely to see them being outside again – the main benefit of their prolonged winter indoors has been that they have fully grassed paddocks to come back to, with all their areas having had a makeover from the team as well. Special thanks to Alan and Neil and Lewis and David for their hard work in helping to give our beautiful birds somewhere fantastic to live, forage and play in. We’ll be able to start the tours again soon now that the birds are out 🤗

Thank you also to everyone who has donated to Donna’s fundraiser – our gorgeous big girl goes for her operation on Wednesday morning. Please keep your fingers crossed for her 🪿🤞❤️

Photos and videos by Amy, Jack and Di - videos in comments.

09/04/2026

FUNDRAISING FOR DONNA

Hello everyone – we’re gearing ourselves up to take our beautiful big Dewlap Toulouse goose Donna for surgery next week at the Animal Doctor. Donna is about 10 years old and has developed what is suspected to be a tumour in her bottom. We won’t show you the photos of it as she’s asked us not to share pictures of her private parts 😉 but the swelling is very large and there’s an underlying infection that needs ongoing control with antibiotics. Donna lives with one of our male Greylag geese Eeny, and they’re a truly devoted couple. As Donna has become poorly, Eeny is even more protective of his darling and they’re currently living in the honeymoon suite in one of our stables on their own rather than with our other geese.

We’ve taken the decision to give her a chance with the exploratory surgery – there’s no guarantee that anything that is found will be fixable, or that she will survive the anaesthetic, but we think she deserves that chance. Apart from her unsightly bottom, she’s well in every other respect with a hearty appetite. In addition to being adored by Eeny, she’s much loved by all the team – a gorgeous, gentle girl who enjoys the simple pleasures in life like a splash in a fresh tub and some bread snacks.

If you’re able to help towards the cost of her operation, we’d be very grateful – every small contribution will help. Thanks so much for your support.

Photos by Annice.

Manor Farm Charitable Trust

09/06/2026

26/05/2026

04/05/2026

03/05/2026

23/04/2026

21/04/2026

15/04/2026

14/04/2026

13/04/2026

09/04/2026

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