Join Workaway now to get 1 month extra for free from Lars!
By signing up as a Workawayer, you will get an extra 1 month added to your one-year membership for free. A small token of thanks from us will also be given to Lars :)
We are especially looking for volunteers with DIY skills or who love digging, gardening, cooking.
We are a family run wildlife rescue centre in a very rural and beautiful part of Herefordshire. We are only looking for a WorkAwayer that can stay for 1 month or more. Because the work is very complex involving caring for many different species of animals, your English needs to be a reasonable level. If your English is a lower level you may be given simpler jobs to do in order to ensure that mistranslation does not put you or the animals at risk.
Our home sits next to a nature reserve and lake and is approximately 10 miles from Hereford city centre. It is an active wildlife rescue centre and sanctuary for as many as 70 different species where emergency rescues can be arriving at any time of the day. You will primarily assist in hands-off caring for these animals and are expected to help with feeding, cleaning, and maintenance of enclosures and gardens. On the worse days it can be cold, wet and muddy and the animals still need to be cared for so you have to be fit, self-motivated, very flexible and enthusiastic! There are plenty of support roles to take on in the running of a wildlife rescue centre.
Normally we have one or two volunteers saying at any time. The place is paradise in terms of natural beauty but best avoided if you are highly social and need the company of other people your age.
Additionally, the work is very intensive at times and you may be working alone a lot of the time and the vulnerable animals in our care have to be the priority . It’s probably best to avoid this project if your mental health is very unstable.
You will be sharing a family home and we expect you to clean and tidy up after yourself, respect our family home and belongings and have a flexible attitude towards sharing chores and working together at meal times. Our home is in a beautiful rural location with lots of walks and wildlife to enjoy and experience in a friendly and laid-back setting.
Hereford itself is an historical market town with a stunning cathedral and river to enjoy. There is lots to see and do and keep yourself entertained on your days off.
We are currently only taking people with extensive animal care experience or showing a deep commitment to animal care/natural history or zoological careers.
Despite this, we will only ask you to participate in care for our animals if you have demonstrated in your first two weeks an aptitude for this type of work.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity Work
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Teaching
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
You will be taught how to care for the animals and their ecology. . Our household is a lively one and is wonderfully welcoming and warm. It’s full of books, music, nature, peace and laughter. There is no television but a household mix of French and Spanish to learn and exchange and be entertained by.
Registered charity
This host is a registered charity in the UK and is looking for help with their charity project. Guidance on charity worker sponsorship by a UK registered charity, can be found here.
1. You will assist with the wildlife rescue centre in every way. It is physically hard feeding all the wildlife at various times during the day, including building, cleaning and repairing cages and enclosures, managing the waste, general household chores, and helping with cooking and cleaning. You will have to do tasks independently, be self-sufficient and must have initiative, common sense and dedication. Due to the need to return animals to the wild, and due the nature of wild animal care, you will not be able to handle animals except specifically to help them in their rehabilitation or enrichment of their captive life. You will completely surrounded by animals and nature.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Beginner
French: Beginner
This host offers a language exchange
Spanish
French
Accommodation
Double bedroom (possibly with en-suite bathroom), shared kitchen, shared living space and courtyard.
What else ...
Our home is a ten minute bicycle ride to the nearest shop and 45 minute bicycle (25 minute drive) from Hereford city centre. There is public transport available from the village into Hereford city centre. Food (food for you to prepare ) is provided and if you have specialist requirements we will allow you space to organise these for yourself. All snacks and other requirements must be met by yourself. You will need to bring appropriate clothing and footwear (hiking boots/ wellington boots) for a rural life. Please mention if you have access to a car or camper van.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.
I stayed with Saha for a month and it was wonderful, she really welcomes you into the family and the family and the home and makes sure youre comftable. The rescue is ran out of her beautiful garden with all sorts of wonderful animals about (Swans, heese, hedgehogs, foxes etc).
Your tasks are fairly straight forward, feeding animlals, cleaning… read more them out, collecting vegetation for herbivores, and helping in the kitchen with meal prep. I drove down to the rescue and having my own car was very helpful as it is rural, but Sasha had no problem letting me tag along with her and her son if they were going out.
As my first workaway experience I was a bit nervous but honestly I immediately felt comftable and got along with all the animals, people and tasks I was asked to do. This rescue is a fantastic place and Sasha does a really good job running it daily.
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
Sasha took me in when I had just escaped an awful time with my former host. She and her family were very welcoming and they took me on many trips even though there wasn't much leisure time for anyone because of all the animals in need of care. I mostly did some gardening and other projects like painting or building. Eventually I got entrusted with… read more care for some of the animals. Sasha was very constructive with instructions and corrections and helped me understand wildlife better. She has an abundance of knowledge and can answer pretty much any question concerning wild life. It helps to always check in with her while caring for the animals. I learned that even insignificant seeming things can potentially become dangerous to the animals and are best reported to her. Of course the work never stops when caring for animals so it is important to keep track of the hours you worked and stop when you have finished for the day or subtract the extra hours from the next day. Sasha was very respectful of my working hours, even when it took a lot longer than she had planned for me to finish a job. She's not easily offended and doesn't seem to be holding grudges. I'm very greatfull for the time I got to spend at the rescue centre and for all the amazing people I got to meet.
Emma was an absolutely fantastic workawayer . She is extremely bright and was able to trouble shoot and solve technical and practical problems for us which has confounded our volunteers.
This included working out how to set the timings on an automatic door for our free range geese.
She helped paint two rooms in the house and worked… read more methodically and carefully with excellent results.
Emma cared for a young fox while she was with us . She is very good with animals and has a caring but also unsentimental approach and she understands the conservation side of wildlife work.
She listened to instructions and cared about doing a good job in everything she undertook.
Emma is a great cook and she is clean and tidy in her approach .
Emma has become a friend as a result of visiting our project one two trips for around three months in total. I cried when she left - partly because I would miss her as a person but also selfishly because she was so incredibly helpful and I knew it would be very hard to replace her.
I stayed with Sasha and Sal for about 3 months, and had a great time. Their idyllic lakeside property full of animals is like something out of a story book, and is perfect if you need to reconnect with nature. As a visitor to the UK, you'll be able to experience a more down to earth side of England not found in the typical tourist locations and… read more cities.
Volunteering with Sasha gave me the chance to experience the ups and downs of working in wildlife rescue, and learn about the countless aspects of animal care along the way. Meeting such a diverse group of creatures, befriending them with time, and helping to give many a second chance at life will always be precious to me. The work was grounding, demanding, and sometimes heart breaking, but the many joyful moments and valuable lessons along the way were what made the experience so worthwhile. I've always wanted to work with animals and gain a better understanding of wildlife in particular, and the unique array of experiences during my time there definitely broadened my horizons in this regard.
I would recommend this workaway if you're able to be self reliant in your work and personal needs, and open minded in regards to the types of jobs you'll be doing. While there are great friendships to be made and fulfilling projects to help with, this isn't a party house and you shouldn't be applying with a highly active social life in mind. I definitely found a benefit to spending a longer period of time here, as I was able to become more competent in the routine tasks and also learn from a broader range of experiences and different animals that came in during my stay.
Thank you Sasha, Sal, and all the other great humans and animals I got to spend time with, and I hope to be back to see you again in future.
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(4.8)
Cultural exchange:
(4.8)
Communication:
(4.7)
23 Nov 2025
Left by Workawayer (Kayla) for host
I stayed with Saha for a month and it was wonderful, she really welcomes you into the family and the family and the home and makes sure youre comftable. The rescue is ran out of her beautiful garden with all sorts of wonderful animals about (Swans, heese, hedgehogs, foxes etc).
Your tasks are fairly straight forward, feeding animlals, cleaning… read more them out, collecting vegetation for herbivores, and helping in the kitchen with meal prep. I drove down to the rescue and having my own car was very helpful as it is rural, but Sasha had no problem letting me tag along with her and her son if they were going out.
As my first workaway experience I was a bit nervous but honestly I immediately felt comftable and got along with all the animals, people and tasks I was asked to do. This rescue is a fantastic place and Sasha does a really good job running it daily.
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
Sasha took me in when I had just escaped an awful time with my former host. She and her family were very welcoming and they took me on many trips even though there wasn't much leisure time for anyone because of all the animals in need of care. I mostly did some gardening and other projects like painting or building. Eventually I got entrusted with… read more care for some of the animals. Sasha was very constructive with instructions and corrections and helped me understand wildlife better. She has an abundance of knowledge and can answer pretty much any question concerning wild life. It helps to always check in with her while caring for the animals. I learned that even insignificant seeming things can potentially become dangerous to the animals and are best reported to her. Of course the work never stops when caring for animals so it is important to keep track of the hours you worked and stop when you have finished for the day or subtract the extra hours from the next day. Sasha was very respectful of my working hours, even when it took a lot longer than she had planned for me to finish a job. She's not easily offended and doesn't seem to be holding grudges. I'm very greatfull for the time I got to spend at the rescue centre and for all the amazing people I got to meet.
Emma was an absolutely fantastic workawayer . She is extremely bright and was able to trouble shoot and solve technical and practical problems for us which has confounded our volunteers.
This included working out how to set the timings on an automatic door for our free range geese.
She helped paint two rooms in the house and worked… read more methodically and carefully with excellent results.
Emma cared for a young fox while she was with us . She is very good with animals and has a caring but also unsentimental approach and she understands the conservation side of wildlife work.
She listened to instructions and cared about doing a good job in everything she undertook.
Emma is a great cook and she is clean and tidy in her approach .
Emma has become a friend as a result of visiting our project one two trips for around three months in total. I cried when she left - partly because I would miss her as a person but also selfishly because she was so incredibly helpful and I knew it would be very hard to replace her.
I stayed with Sasha and Sal for about 3 months, and had a great time. Their idyllic lakeside property full of animals is like something out of a story book, and is perfect if you need to reconnect with nature. As a visitor to the UK, you'll be able to experience a more down to earth side of England not found in the typical tourist locations and… read more cities.
Volunteering with Sasha gave me the chance to experience the ups and downs of working in wildlife rescue, and learn about the countless aspects of animal care along the way. Meeting such a diverse group of creatures, befriending them with time, and helping to give many a second chance at life will always be precious to me. The work was grounding, demanding, and sometimes heart breaking, but the many joyful moments and valuable lessons along the way were what made the experience so worthwhile. I've always wanted to work with animals and gain a better understanding of wildlife in particular, and the unique array of experiences during my time there definitely broadened my horizons in this regard.
I would recommend this workaway if you're able to be self reliant in your work and personal needs, and open minded in regards to the types of jobs you'll be doing. While there are great friendships to be made and fulfilling projects to help with, this isn't a party house and you shouldn't be applying with a highly active social life in mind. I definitely found a benefit to spending a longer period of time here, as I was able to become more competent in the routine tasks and also learn from a broader range of experiences and different animals that came in during my stay.
Thank you Sasha, Sal, and all the other great humans and animals I got to spend time with, and I hope to be back to see you again in future.
(Excellent)
26 Jan 2020
Left by Workawayer (Romane) for host
I stayed for 3 weeks in June and that was a wonderful trip, with a very kind family, I learned so many things about animals, homecare, paintings, wild animals. I improved a lot of my English skills. Sasha and her family were very kind to us and integrated us into their family. I will never forget this stay and I hope to come back a day. I advise… read more you to live this experience with this wonderful family and these interesting animals. This stay was a source of improvement in my language skills, I developed my independence and I lived a very good moment with this family where I was a part of this family. I lived a unique and incredible stay. I thank Sasha, Lily, and Salvador for their kindness and our integration in their family.
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
(Excellent)
26 Sep 2019
Left by Workawayer (Portia) for host
There are some amazing experiences to be had here. I met some incredible animals and it was a privilege to take care of them. Sasha was kind to me as I found my feet - I was nervous of making a mistake that might set back the care of the injured animals. As I got into a routine I got more confident and Vicki was amazing at showing me the rounds… read more and helping me know what to do. In the mornings the animals need checking, feeding, watering, letting out etc. in the middle of the day all the cleaning of cages took place, and in the evenings some feeding, putting to bed and final checks took place. I got to help at a school fair, introducing kids to wildlife and that was a real highlight, as were the views from the living room!
I had a few challenges here, one being that there was no hot water or heating, which meant I was desperately cold some nights. A blow heater was provided but as they’re expensive I couldn’t run it for too long. It also meant I couldn’t use my en-suite and the other bathroom needed work. There were some communication/organisation issues - I worked long days and had to ask for my days off (I had five in the end over a month I think) and I had to organise some of those days myself among volunteers when the family went away. I didn’t know they were going until a fortnight before I arrived which meant many days on my own - I also had to buy my own groceries while they were away which was a cab ride into town, so ended up being an expensive workaway. I had no transport so relied on the family to get in and there was no real structure to when then would go in so that was a bit hard.
Everyone in the family and involved in the rescue are lovely. If you are prepared to speak up, like to work hard, are flexible, prepared for rustic living conditions and have a heart for animals, you will have a great time here.
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
(Good)
6 Jun 2019
Left by Workawayer (Kim) for host
I have just returned from this wonderful stay with Sasha, her family and her extraordinary animals, and I am delighted! It was an unforgettable experience, rich and human. The house is sublime, the place is charming and I found a small family's fragment in this beautiful country of England !!
I learned a lot about animals, about the special care… read more to be given to wild species and I was able to co-mingle with animals that are not common and observe their behaviour.
I would end by talking about Sasha, who is a strong and courageous woman. I was very touched by his kindness, his love for animals and his sensitivity. She is a very honest woman who respects the hours, who knows how reassuring. I recommend this trip to you 100% !
Thank you Sasha, Lily, Salvi, Lara, Romane <3 and the beautiful animal like Ruby, Fred, Plausy and Portia hihihi
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
(Excellent)
30 Jul 2018
Left by Workawayer (Lara) for host
This was truly an experience I will remember for life! The animals are the priority and they are lovely with their very own personality each. I have collected so many wonderful memories from here (one of my favorites being able to rescue 10 ducks back into the wild). Sasha was always up to share about the animals and teach me about them. The… read more dedication, commitment, perseverance, and work ethic Sasha exhibited is truly commendable. I cannot praise her and her wildlife rescue enough, it's hard to put into words. You might not change the entire world out here, but you'll change the lives of every single one of the animals here, giving them back the love, care and respect they deserve. And if you ask me thats one of the most beautiful things we can do. Thank you again Sasha and your two outgoing kids!! Looking forward to see you all next summer :)
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
(Excellent)
23 Jun 2018
Left by Workawayer (Anke) for host
I had such a wonderful time with Sasha, Lily, Sal, Ruby and all the other furry (and even feathery) friends I made :) I honestly felt as if I'd met them before and it was great to be a part of the family!
In vetschool we learn nowhere near enough about wildlife (basically close to nothing really) so if it is something that interests you, it's… read more important that you really get into it and Sasha is the right person to go to :)
The farmhouse is beautiful and the view is breathtaking (as well as the temperature since I was sometimes freezing my feet off during wintertime, but Sasha provided me with all the warm clothes I needed, thanks so much!)
Taking care of wildlife can be quite hectic at times, but I am so impressed by how the whole team does it and I'll be back! (PS Give the geese a little bow from me too please)
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
(Excellent)
22 Mar 2018
Left by Workawayer (Julia) for host
I stayed with Sasha and her two kids for 3 weeks and I’m so, so happy I did!
The rescue is full of animals (birds of prey, hedgehogs, donkeys, snake, ...). Your task will be to care for them, so you’ll learn what these species eat, how they behave and to clean them out. Sasha will also share her medical knowledge about them with you, which is… read more really interesting. She’ll sometimes need help in household/kitchen. You’ll be a part of the family, join their meals (very delicious!) and free time activities (they took me to an aquarium!). I had a pretty room with my own toilet. They live in a beautiful place, in a wood directly next to a lake and Hereford is a picturesque town with lots of beautiful churches. You can catch a direct train to the neighbor country wales and go for a day trip to Cardiff.
So if you are willing and open to become part of your host family, enjoy nature, love animals and are not afraid of getting dirty, then this is the perfect place for you to go to. I wouldn’t highly recommend it :)
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
(Excellent)
11 Nov 2017
Left by host for Workawayer (Daniel & Emma)
Emma and Daniel were incredibly helpful in every way. Both were straightforward, did the work with no fuss or bother, helped me re-organise our animal housing and built an entire aviary while they were here in just two weeks. they were fun and kind to be around. They cooked and cleaned and were generally excellent. I would 100% recommend them.… read more Sasha
(Excellent)
Leave feedback
Are you sure you want to leave without submitting feedback? Your changes will not be saved.
Advice on how to use your photos to make your profile stand out
We've noticed that there's less than 3 photos uploaded to your profile. With the new host profile layout this we would highly recommend having more than 3 photos so your profile stands out visually.
Please take a few moments to choose some images that show off your place or area:
Please log in to your Workawayer account to contact this host, or sign up here!
Please note due to the UK leaving the EU, freedom of movement from the EU to the UK ended on 1st Jan 2021. If you are not a UK citizen, Irish citizen, settled status holder, Commonwealth citizen with the right to abode in the UK, BNO passport holder with valid visa or have a Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme (working holiday) visa and you are entering the UK to work or study you may be refused entry to the UK after Jan 1st 2021 unless you have the correct visas and permits in place. To find out more information about visas and work permits for your nationality you need to contact the embassy in your home country BEFORE travelling.
Charity Work
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Teaching
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
