Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.

About Us

Mission Statement

Driven by a belief that all animals deserve respect and to live in peace and comfort, we will promote the welfare of wild and domestic animals by
  • the operation of a rescue and sanctuary
  • educating the public on how to help sick and injured wildlife
  • educating the public about pigeons
  • assisting finders of sick and injured wildlife and pigeons to find the help they need

Our History

The Trust was officially set up by Sarah & Dave Argrave in 2008, though HelpWildlife.co.uk was set up in 2005. Sarah grew up with a passion for animals and started volunteering for a wildlife rescue in 1994. Originally the Starlight Trust’s focus was on hands-on animal rescue, especially of pet rodents. That started to include pigeons after a few years and we added an aviary for disabled pigeons in 2014. Since 2020, due to health issues, our focus has shifted more to online work.

Our Values

The work of the trust is driven by strong ethics and beliefs as set out below

Open
We will keep supporters informed about our work honestly and openly and we will listen to feedback and concerns and answer questions.

Inclusive
We will be driven by the belief that all animals (including human ones) are equal, regardless of their outer shell. All our animals receive equal care regardless of species, age, health or behaviour, and all people we interact with will be treated equally regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender, gender identity, sexuality or disability. Our motto is the words of Confucius – “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”

Compassionate
The welfare of our animals will always be forefront. Animals in our care are given names and treated as individuals. We keep careful records on their care so we can monitor their health and progress. Decisions about their treatment and future will always be taken with their individual welfare in mind. No animal will ever be euthanased to make room or save money or for any reason other than, on vet’s advice, to relieve the suffering of an animal without hope of improvement in its health or quality of life.

Mindful
It’s not just ‘our’ animals that are important, it’s all animals. We will work, wherever possible, to minimise the impact our work has on other animals. We will do this by feeding vegetarian and vegan diets where appropriate, using products which have not been tested on animals and do not contain animal derived ingredients wherever possible, sourcing all products and resources as ethically as possible, and by not using animal by-products to raise funds.

Cooperative
We firmly believe that it best serves the interest of animals if organisations work together. We will aim to work with groups with similar aims wherever possible and appropriate and we will never engage in rescue ‘politics’ or witch hunts. We will support the work of other groups through our free faecal sampling and £1 for Wildlife campaigns.

Responsible
We only entrust our animals to dedicated, exceptional quality permanent and foster homes. Adopters and fosterers must sign a contract and keep in touch throughout the life of the animal to keep us updated on their welfare. We retain responsibility for the animals and we will always take them back if they can no longer be cared for.
In our interactions with people, we will always be respectful, understanding and responsible. Situations are rarely black and white and we will not engage in public criticisms of those who surrender animals to us, for example. Those who interact with us will be given the option to receive further communications about our work which are limited to no more than quarterly. We will NEVER spam supporters with begging letters/emails.

Accountable
We can only continue our work with the support of those who share our passion for helping the most underappreciated animals. The trust relies entirely on public donations and is a not-for-profit organisation recognised as charitable by HMRC for tax purposes. This means we are able to claim gift aid on donations. We have no paid staff which means all contributions received are spent on our core aims. We will publish details of how donations are spent on an annual basis and will willingly respond to questions and feedback.

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