My name is Nicola and my husband is Gareth. We first visited the rescue in March 2009 after the death of our bunny, Gavin. We were devastated by his death and weren’t sure about getting another rabbit but his partner, Heidi, became really destructive without him and we knew she needed a friend as soon as possible. 

We thought we knew what to expect at a rescue but we were still shocked by how many buns there were who needed new homes – 100 rabbits is a hard number to visualise until you see them all together. Caroline explained the history of many of the rabbits and the more we heard, the more we wanted to help. With full-time jobs and other commitments we knew we couldn’t offer to drive up to the rescue and help every week. But when we got home we thought about other things we could do and decided to offer to act as fosterers for the long term and special needs bunnies, keeping them in our spare bedroom. After discussing what care each pair required and who would benefit most from living indoors, we decided to take in Saucerer and India for a trial period – and they have now been with us for more than 6 months. We have also taken in other pairs when the rescue has been particularly full. 
 
In addition to the fostering we also go up to the rescue to help clean out hutches when we have a free weekend, and on the few occasions when
Caroline has taken a well-deserved break away from the rescue we have helped by medicating and feeding the hospital buns.
 
Getting to know Caroline and getting involved with The Rabbit Residence Rescue has changed our lives in so many ways and has made us realise
just how lucky we, and our pets, are. We have adopted three wonderful house bunnies, who are all very much part of the family and they live very happily alongside our two Siamese cats. We also enjoy looking after the various foster bunnies, treating them as a family member whilst they are with us and helping them to live as normal a life as possible. We always thought that we were quite knowledgeable about rabbit care and health but we have learnt so much more since we have known Caroline –another reason why the rescue is so valuable. And of course we have made lots of new friends at the rescue, both of the human and rabbit variety!

I learned about the Rabbit Residence Rescue when my friend was considering having rabbits as pets. He wanted to volunteer to understand what was involved in adopting rabbits and to hopefully find a pair who would choose him as their owner.  My only experience of rabbits until then was my cousin’s pet bunny who was housed in a small hutch with no run attached and who was aggressive because he was alone and unhappy. What a revelation to find that bunnies with room to be free and a bunny best friend are happy, lively, intelligent, curious and seriously cute!

I’ve been volunteering at the Rabbit Residence for nearly 2 years now and I’m so pleased to be a part of the work that it does. I clean out sheds and hutches most Saturdays and never fail to be bowled over by the playful antics of the bunnies. Gary and I are usually the first to volunteer to take fun photos of the bunnies so that they have the most appealing profile pictures on the national Rabbit Rehome adoption website.

I really see the difference that the rescue makes every week. A new rabbit can arrive traumatised then gradually starts settling into their new life, falling in love with a bunny girl- or boyfriend, exploring sheds and runs, binkying for joy, and starting to help the humans with the cleaning out! Bunnies come in all shapes, colours and sizes and they come with lots of different personalities too. Some are fearless in their adventures, dashing and jumping all over the place, others prefer to relax in the sun taking naps, some are eager for strokes and clamber all over you for attention. They are all individually adorable creatures who humans must respect, love and care for.

You know the Rabbit Residence Rescue is making a difference when it re-homes abandoned rabbits but also when you hear a visitor say; “Oh wow I didn’t realise bunnies were so lively, playful and loving!”

Helping people understand, respect and fall in love with rabbits: that’s why I volunteer at the Rabbit Residence Rescue.

Ellie and Mick clean out rabbit hutches, provide the 100 rabbits with clean water which is a full time job in itself and provide essential grounds maintenance and repair work as well as fostering long term sick bunnies at their home.

“Hello I’m Colin. I first visited the rescue in December 2008 with my wife after the death of our beloved Thumper. We were looking for a friend for his brother Smokey. We did take a rabbit, Spice, to bond with Smokey, but he’d become independent and unfortunately didn’t accept her. So for the rest of his life he got loads of love and attention from us.

We got Thumper and Smokey in 2002 as abandoned 9 week old brothers, thrown away in a box. My initial view of rabbits was, I guess, pretty much like many people. Cute and fluffy yes, but not real pets. Not much personality or interaction.


How wrong I was. As we allowed ‘the boys’ more freedom, the more we got from them and them from us - well they trained us to be honest and in the end changed our lives. In no time we both fell in love with them and thought they were the most wonderful little boys. We both still miss them terribly.

We have just taken on two new bunnies from Caroline, .Luna and Shilioh and they are lovely little bundles of fun so we’re looking forward to a new chapter in our bunny lives.

I wanted to get involved with the Rescue after I met Caroline, saw the site and all those little faces looking at me, full of life and hope that one day, even though many had been abused or abandoned, they would have new loving homes. This was something I totally supported.

Initially I helped with DIY. It’s much needed work but I'm not great at it, so when we decided to form a management committee I agreed to be part of that. My first big task was dealing with renewal of the Rescue's planning permission. This was daunting knowing that an argument needed to be won, but knowing that lots of lives depended on it. In the end we received the permission for 2 years and hopefully will again in 2012. I'm now involved in the accounts, other admin and management tasks and now head up the committee. I'm also helping Vicki with the charity application work, a big task but then we'll be able to go from strength to strength and hopefully secure the future of the Rescue for some time.

Anyone visiting the Rescue will know it’s a wonderful place. It’s full of happy bunnies having a second chance of a good life. I'm amazed Caroline can do what she does but we’re there to provide her with the support she needs.”

My right hand man with so many skills: IT, medical, behaviour, managing the rescue for me to have time off and is there to support me and the rabbits through each and every emotional upheaval and happy success.
Gary came to the rescue in 2008 looking to adopt a pair of rabbits but having no experience.  To make sure rabbits would be right for him and that he was prepared for the responsibility, he asked to spend "a couple of days volunteering just to get a feel for it".

My regular Wednesday girl. Happily manages the rescue and daily tasks while I'm off delivering bunnies to new homes and running errands.

My fabulous Thursday girl who cleans out the bunnies and allows me to achieve so much more.

My superdooper teenage Saturday girl who has been a regular volunteer for the last few months through rain, sun and snow.

My secnd superdooper Saturday teenage girl who puts us older volunteers to shame - so much energy and efficiency. We appreciate our teenagers so much though they must be mature, independent and quick learners.

One of our young adult helpers who is excellent at yard and poo sweeping, a very important job to prevent flystrike and keep flies away. Also sponsors some long term bunnies.

Two more rocks. Stuart attends major DIY projects which completely structure the rescue. Debbie cleans out. They are also both trained in bedtime duty- putting all the buns away safely. Debbie and Stuart also fundraise for us via ebay and car boot sales.

My left hand woman. Completely multi-talented. Presently managing our registering as a charity to help us become entitled to gift aid, VAT return and enabling us to apply for grants to help us cope with our bills, where we spend about £400 a week at the vets.

Alison is an extremely qualified veterinary nurse with over 13 years experience. she specialises in rabbits and lectures vet and nurse students on rabbits. she supports us with practical duties as well medical advice and support.