Volunteer Work Experience
Gentleshaw also offers work experience placements for students, volunteers must be 18 years of age and up, ( limited placements for 16years +). Minimum placement is 25 days.

These must be pre booked and placements are limited. Tasks include general animal husbandry, preparation of diets, cleaning of enclosures and enrichments, keeping grounds maintained including odd jobs, painting, grass cutting etc and occasionally training and exercising of the birds of prey. Be prepared, you won’t be cuddling animals, you will get grubby and smelly!

Please Note: Anyone applying for work experience via a letter must include a SAE if requiring a reply. Also, please be aware that we do not employ anyone, and we cannot offer any money / expenses etc. as we simply do not have the funds to do so.

Should you require further information please contact Gentleshaw using the details on our contact page.

Volunteers must be 16 years of age and up Minimum placement is 8 days Hours are 10am – 4:30 / 5pm ( we cannot offer half day placements) We do not employ any staff. All staff are volunteers. We have limited placements which fill up very quickly. Volunteer positions are normally arranged a minimum of 6 months in advance.

The Staff
No sanctuary could run without people to clean ,feed, repair, build, bandage, tidy , worry, cry, sweat and clean some more. We do not pay our staff wages, they survive on coffee and the knowledge that an animal’s life is just a little bit better, because of them.

Volunteers
I cannot name you all, you know who you are, the long term volunteers who come rain or shine, crisis after crisis, I cannot give you money, but you should all know how vital you are, Gentleshaw's volunteers, my extended family!

Mom (Lesley Smith) thank you, you are priceless.

Katie Woollaston (Little sis) you never complain (well not much anyway) Love you.

Uncle (Hugh Jenkins) Cheap accountant!

Jill and Col travel 100s of miles to help out, well, not anymore they don’t... But they did kindly move counties!

Angie 'rookie' Randall and Tony 'flight' Randall for all that they do, including shopping, fixing and taking a lot of teasing.

Max who started with one day a week volunteering and now seems to have been roped into coming whenever we can get him, extra thanks to Max for having a wonderful beard.

Keith and Dee for all the helping around the centre and office, for fixing the broken, re building the improved and a huge multitude of other tasks!

Ken, carpenter extraordinaire , thank you.

All of our work experience students and extra volunteers, whether you are with us for a day or a year, we appreciated all your help.

Colin Morgan (husband of Nutty Zoo woman!) My better, and more sensible other half and charity chairman. You put up with creatures around the house, and whatever disaster I need to spend all night talking about, I love you xxxx

And lastly Dad (Rob Smith).. Your shoes no one will ever fill, your feet were always bigger than mine, "Do what you love and love what you do" you did, for you Dad.

I am sure someone will come in tomorrow to help out that I have missed off, if that's you, I am sorry, thank you to you, too.