AN URGENT appeal for donations has been made to save a Newport wildlife charity.

City Wildlife, run solely by volunteers, faces closure if it fails to raise the £30,000 needed to keep it up and running.

Since it was founded in 2009, the charity in Albert Avenue, Newport, takes in more than 2,500 casualties a year and works with the emergency services, councils and schools, to care for the wildlife across Gwent.

The funding crisis was caused by a recent management shake up combined with lack of donations, which led to the temporary closure of the RSPCA-approved charity .

Volunteer Lucykate Bodman, 20, said that the charity is looking to fundraise through events such as cake sales, and fancy dress events, but is also appealing for the public to come forward and donate.

“Due to a change in management structure and a lack of donations we are in a financial crisis,” she said.

“We have had donations from people who are good friends of the charity but we have not been able to reach out to the general public which has partially led to the charity being forced to close temporarily until we can get the funding to get it back up and running.”

The charity which operates a 24/7 service with just six volunteers, has a state of the art hospital unit along with an ambulance that is fully equipped to deal with any emergency.

Spokeswoman for the charity Sharon Swithin added: “Lack of funding is a major issue in what we do.

“We care for around 3,000 species a year and it is a lot of money to fund this.

“We need to be able to pay for things like heating and vet costs. Everyone is gutted that we had to close temporarily as some of the things we have done have been amazing. We believe that wildlife deserves a chance. If it shuts, it is going to be a massive loss to the city.”

To donate to the campaign, visit on.fb.me/Na2ysJ