About Us

Blyth Wildlife Rescue, also known as Northumbria Wildlife Rescue is a dedicated wildlife rescue service working right across Newcastle Upon Tyne and Northumberland, dealing with over 3000 queries every year with the help of over 30 volunteers

Originally founded back in Summer 2006, Blyth Wildlife Rescue now takes in nearly 2000 animals, both wild and domestic, and deals in excess of 4,000 calls and for advice and emergencies every year.

Current statistics for 2019 indicate we admitted 1,400 casualties, over 550 of which were Hedgehogs

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Many of our patients are rehabilitated in the homes of our members, who care for each patient through to the final stages of the animal’s release back into the wild. The charity also operates a small hospital setup where voluntary staff work with patients requiring intensive care and treatment before being moved out into foster care and then released into the wild. 

We are now into our 15th year of operation, with exactly the same ethos and aims to not only continue our work, but see it improve and grow bigger.

In 2009, Blyth Wildlife Rescue expanded by recruiting new fosterers in a bid to share the load of animals being admitted, particularly during the Summer months.
There are now over 20 registered foster carers alone, working in a range of different positions, from hands-on fostering to emergency pickups from across the county.

No animal is ever denied treatment, regardless of species or status.

We take referrals from a range of Vets across Northumberland, as well as maintaining strong links with other wildlife carers and rehabilitation centres.

Our new initiative enables a whole range of people to become actively involved in wildlife care in Northumberland through voluntary work, such as Foster Care.

We aim to not only care for wildlife casualties, but also work to prevent and minimise incidents involving wild animals, and to change the perceptions of wild animals and wildlife care in the public domain.

In late December 2014, the charity was dealt a devastating blow after the main charity premises were broken into and extensively vandalised,causing thousands of pounds worth of damage and destroying much property and buildings constructed by volunteers to house recovering patients. 
Further heartache came several months later when an arson attack destroyed much of the remaining site, forcing the chariry to demolish the remaining buildings, evacuate the site and stop taking in new admissions.

In January 2015, our founder John Anderson was awarded a British Citizen Award at an awards ceremony in London for his exceptional contribution to the community and being an inspiration to other British citizens.
Further recognition came in June 2015 in being recognised in the 2015 Happy List; an annual list of 100 people in the UK who have selflessly changed communities and people’s lives for the better through volunteering, caring, fund-raising, mentoring and charity work.

In September 2019, charity founder John Anderson was also recognised in the LOVE Northumberland Awards for Outstanding Wildlife Advocate; an award presented by Her Grace the Duchess of Northumberland.

The charity remains strong today despite all the setbacks over recent years and continues to care for hundreds of animals every year, costing a minimum of £1,500 every month in running costs