Birthday Present Suggestion for 9 year old

The Donkey Sanctuary is being as stubborn as the animals themselves about re opening!

"The charity has been criticised for ‘withdrawing’ from public life, affecting its thousands of devoted supporters and donors.
A spokesman for The Donkey Sanctuary has said they did not want to increase the risks to the staff, whose main priority was to care for their resident donkeys.
A reader contacted theHeraldand said the sanctuary had been closed nearly six months.
She added: “The reason given is that it is too difficult safely to manage the press of many people through the site’s multiple access points. Much the same reason was given for closing public parks and gardens.
“But it is now understood that there is truly negligible risk of virus transmission in the open air and from people simply passing each other on a pathway.
“Parks and gardens have been open for many weeks, along with zoos, petting farms and, latterly, shops and restaurants.
“Most have nothing like the space and quality of facilities of The Donkey Sanctuary, so the continued failure to reopen is mystifying...
“The sanctuary’s total withdrawal from public life is very hard on its thousands of devoted supporters.
“Many have bought plaques, trees and seats for the site as memorials to lost loved ones: memorials to which they are now denied access. Many who normally make frequent regular pilgrimages to visit their ‘adopted’ donkeys will also feel bereft.”

Very sad. I will not continue sponsoring the donkeys any more.

It is such a lovely present for a young child.

But hereby lies a donkey tail/tale.
We sponsored a few donkeys for the various grandchildren last Christmas and they were delighted. The intention was to visit them every few weeks. No one could have predicted the issues brought about by Covid19 and rightly so the donkeys could no longer receive visitors. Once zoos opened, however, we fully expected The Donkey Sanctuary to re open its doors. The donkeys are in fields outside in the fresh air, so there is very little danger to anyone. The children are really disappointed that nearly 4 months have gone by and still no signs of the place re opening. I realise it is a charity, but the income is around £40 million a year from bequests, sponsors and donations. Hopefully they will try their best to open again soon. In the meantime we are sent monthly letters requesting financial support for the donkeys, but we have received no offer to extend our donkey sponsorship for the months lost.

I thought it was a great idea and recently offered it to a very horsey 10 year old in my family.
It was politely declined in favour of an iTunes voucher ...

(You can’t win ‘em all).

Great idea - the photo makes it so personal. My disabled daughter rode there many years ago and knew all the donkeys' names!

That's a great idea. My grandson is 11 in September and I'll keep that in mind.

What a brilliant idea, I can see why he loves it.

What a wonderful present- I love it!