Anna's one million pound challenge

Anna Maxwell has one million pounds on her mind and it has nothing to do with winning the lottery! She is the new Fundraising Manager at Secret World Wildlife Rescue which has saved literally thousands of injured or orphaned animals and birds from all over the South West in recent years. Anna is now playing an important role in the charity's £4.4 million Call of the Wild Appeal to build a new Animal Hospital and Education Centre and her mission is to raise £1 million next year just to keep the rescue centre going.

"I will be working with three colleagues and dozens of enthusiastic volunteers so it will really be a big team effort," she said.

"Our work is crucial because it is now costing around £135 to help a single injured or abandoned animal," said Anna, aged 32, who has a decade of experience working with hospice charities.

Secret World not only serves the South West from its base at East Huntspill, near Bridgwater, but the whole of the South West and indeed receives injured or orphaned creatures from all over around the country. Key members of the charity's dedicated team are the volunteer rescue drivers who will go out in all winds and weathers to pick up animals or birds in distress and take them to Secret World. Here they receive expert care and attention until they can be released back into the wild.