WIRRAL Animal Sanctuary's Hog Centre has thanked Globe's golden-hearted readers after more than £2,000 of donations.

Before Easter the team at the centre, based at Larton Livery in Frankby, issued an urgent appeal for donations after having a 'very long hard winter'.

Last year, the team had released 229 healthy hedgehogs back into the wild but it's not just hedgehogs that they rescue, two weeks ago they took in a baby rabbit which had been discovered in a car park.

They have since named the new furry resident Marmite who is growing stronger each day thanks to the team.

In the appeal the team revealed how much it costs to run the facility and how in some cases volunteers have had to travel as far as North Wales, Runcorn and Liverpool to collect hedgehogs and bring them to the centre.

After the Globe-backed appeal, Wirral Animal Sanctuary founder Steph Oliver confirmed that £2,722 had been raised by the kind-hearted public.

Steph told the Globe: "From our slightly desperate appeal for funds, we have received the most incredibly generous donation through PayPal.

"So generous that we have almost fell off our chairs.

"We believe this may have also been down to the Wirral Globe for sharing our story.

"There was no address or email address, but if the incredibly kind person is on Facebook please get in touch so that we can thank you personally. You have no idea how much your donation means to us.

"All your kind words and donations have been absolutely incredible and we have been completely overwhelmed by your generosity.

"Last week we wrote a desperate appeal for funds. We really hate to do that, but we were really struggling.

"You wonderful, amazing, generous people donated a total of £2722.02

"It’s hard for us to put into words how much this means to us, all we can say is that we can breathe for a while, and we can’t tell you how grateful we are. We are overwhelmed by your kind words and fantastic support.

"From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much."

To donate to Wirral Animal Sanctuary, donate using PayPal to info@wirralanimalsanctuary.co.uk, send cheques to Larton Liveries, or visit www.wirralanimalsanctuary.co.uk/donate