THIS month, Mary Hepworth from Albert’s Horse Sanctuary lets us know how they are coping with the extreme weather conditions this winter.

Mary and the other volunteers at Albert’s Horse Sanctuary in Cawthorne have had a tougher winter than most this year.

After having to go head to head with Barnsley Council over planning permission for stables, the sanctuary lost its charitable status after failing to submit their accounts on time.

Fortunately, this has now been done and the charity now has its charitable status back, meaning they now have to work harder than ever with fundraising to catch up on the time lost.

The extreme weather and prolonged periods of snow have hit the sanctuary hard too.

As every horse owner will know, the snow and ice have made keeping a horse fit and healthy over winter even harder than usual. But to keep so many old horses healthy is even harder and Mary and her team have had to work non-stop to make sure their horses are happy and healthy.

Mary said: “I just want to say a huge, huge thank-you for supporting the charity through such hard, expensive months.

“We have been through freezing temperatures, thick snow, heary rain, but the animals keep us smiling.”

Despite the adverse weather, Mary says they have had so much fun over the past few weeks.

She said: “We have a baby donkey called Danny, who is 6 months old who goes from nibbling us to jumping on us. He loves to play!”

The sanctuary takes Romeo the donkey to functions and events for fundraising and Danny will be joining him as soon as he is old enough.

If anyone knows of any events that the sanctuary can get involved with, Mary would love to know as fundraising is their main priority now.

It’s not just the donkeys that are being well- looked-after this winter.

The sanctuary also cares for many horses, including Molly.

Molly is very old and winter can be very difficult for veterans, especially with the freezing temperatures we’ve been experiencing.

Mary said: “Molly is doing fine at the moment, she has four meals a day, warm rugs, magnatherapy boots on and leg warmers on at night.

“She is still a little thin, but she is happy with life at the moment.”

After a difficult start to winter, Mary is now hoping to put their troubles behind them and concentrate on what is most important to them – the horses.

The sanctuary now needs your help with fundraising, items for their charity shop in Scissett, professional help or items you could donate to the horses. Mary has many ideas for raising the vital funds, from coffee mornings, sponsored walks or adopting a horse.

If you want to help or if you need any more information, contact Mary on 0772 132 7879 or 0777 4001 635.

She said: “We want to ensure we can continue to raise funds so that we can keep all our horses happy no matter what the weather conditions or what the council or other people may throw at us. The horses are our main priority and we will make sure the sanctuary remains open whatever the cost.”