Mods please delete if not allowed.
But my really good friends Debbie and Simon were on wild lives last night. They live on Exmoor with a smallholding. They were looking to build their own home on site last year, then lockdown hit. They weren’t eligible for any government support and had to use all their house savings to pay for animal feed etc. Then with universal credit, it was barely enough to feed the animals let alone themselves.
They’ve started a crowd funder to help them achieve their goal of building their new home.
They’ve put some great rewards on, so well worth a look
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/hiddenvalleypigs/comments#start

I saw some of that, missed a bit of it sadly.

Nice couple. I’ll chip in a little for sure.

Thanks Poopscoop. They’ll be hugely grateful 🙂 Chatted to him this morning and they’re getting a great response from those who watched the show. Hopefully they’ll be able to build their new home now.

I’m not entirely sure about this. I would love to move off grid, live in the countryside and be surrounded by animals. Not sure though if I would expect others to pay for a house for me to live in.

Isn’t it just freeloading?*

* I would be very happy to be corrected if there is a side to this that I do not understand. I’m not trying to be nasty.

I would be very happy to be corrected if there is a side to this that I do not understand. I’m not trying to be nasty.

I’ve not seen the program but the OP seems to suggest they’ve fallen through the lockdown hand out cracks

@franksinatra thank you, you’ve pretty much summed up my thoughts on this too. I watched part of this last night, and though I liked the couple, didn’t ever feel like them moving to the country was the right thing to do financially. Sorry, but if you can’t afford a roof over your head then why undertake 2 Great Danes and a boat load of animals that eat more than they do?
I don’t know, but given the area/access etc have they even got planning off the ground for their lodge? I got the impression that the land they bought was an off cut of a larger property nearby that was unsuitable for any development.

As Dickyboy says, they are just one of those groups who have missed out massively on financial support over the last year. As they also had savings (saved for the house that was just about to be built) they didn’t qualify for anything. All those savings went.
Universal Credit barely covered their animal feed too.
They do have rewards attached to support, as they are using what they have, their knowledge and skills to say thank you for supporting them.

Edit* they only had one great dane, but inherited the other as their owner died of cancer and wanted her to go to a good home.
Their main source of income went overnight- they run small holding courses, which they could no longer run.

No comment!

I’m down a few quid any chance you could crowd fund me ???

Are you down a few quid because you spent what little money you had feeding rescued animals? If so, then maybe.

There are always a more deserving causes, always.

Spreading a little love to the cause you relate to as an individual, on a given day, is all anyone can do.

It’s not mandatory though so I see no problem.