In the heart of Sutton Park, you can find 14 remarkable individuals who specialise in helping people improve their well-being and build new skills and confidence. The individuals being referred to are the four-legged residents of the Donkey Sanctuary who are key to the success of a charity that has been based in the much-loved beauty spot for many years.
Cate McMurray, The Donkey Sanctuary Birmingham’s Equine Coach, said: “Sometimes I think we’re the best-kept secret around here. We have visitors every week who say they’ve lived here for decades and had no idea we were here!”
The Donkey Sanctuary relies entirely on donations, and the Birmingham sanctuary is one of six regional Centre’s across the UK that provide support through its Donkey Assisted Activity Programmes. Central to the Sanctuary’s work is the remarkable ability of donkeys to reflect the experience of the humans that they meet.
Cate explained: “Donkeys are incredible teachers. Their limbic system, which is the part of the brain that deals with feelings and emotions, is a similar size to a human, meaning that they have a very large capacity for inner emotional depth.
Research has shown that that an equine’s heart rhythm can synchronise with, and even influence those of a human when they interact.
“Because physiological effects, such as a raised heart rate, can be ruled by how we’re feeling, a donkey’s calming mood can reduce a person’s anxiety. The donkeys react to the subtle body language given off by humans and react accordingly. They are great mirrors and their ability to sense what people need is astonishing.”
This ability helps those who need support through a variety of programmes run by The Donkey Sanctuary. Cate explained: “The sessions we offer are open to anyone from young people to adults and can be referred for a multitude of reasons from school engagement support, poor mental health to simple respite care.”
“We are the last stop though – we’re not therapists. Our role is not to be a counsellor, but to offer guidance as bridge at the end of other interventions, so that the individual can look and move forward with their life.”
The Sanctuary runs a few different programmes offering support to those who access their services. One of which is Wellbeing with Donkeys, which is a programme where people attend up to three sessions spending quality time interacting with the donkeys in a calm and peaceful environment.
Cate said: “This programme offers people some space and reflection time that they might need, by spending time with the donkeys in their natural environment.
“We also have an offering that is popular with younger clients called the Donkey Management Programme which gives the client the opportunity to transfer any understanding they gain from the donkeys care and welfare to their own circumstances and improve their wellbeing.”
For 10yrs and up, the Sanctuary runs a Donkey Facilitated Learning programme, where clients work with the donkeys to improve life skills. Cate said: “The aim of these sessions is to create a space for individuals to discover their own capabilities, offering opportunities to develop wellbeing and life skills, through observations of, and interactions with the donkeys.”
Outside of the programmes, the Sanctuary also welcomes visitors every Saturday and on the first Sunday of each month, between 10-12 in morning or 1-3pm. Visits are free but must be booked in advance on The Donkey Sanctuary’s website.
Cate said: “We like to welcome visitors and give them the opportunity to meet the donkeys and gain a better understanding of the impact we are hoping to make for donkeys worldwide. Many people visit to see their adopted donkeys, and this is a great way of supporting our work. At the Birmingham sanctuary, we have four Adoption Donkeys – Cisco, Jasper, Jimmy, and Shocks.”
Cate continued: “We are a charitable organisation, and currently there is no charge for our services and that’s all down to our wonderful supporters. Without their donations, we would not be able to do the work we do.”
“Many of our donkeys have been relinquished into our care because their owners simply couldn’t carry on looking after them, for a number of reasons,” Cate said, “We have a couple of what you might call ‘rescue’ donkeys, but it’s usually a case of people not being able to afford them anymore.
The donkeys at the Centre not only provide Donkey Assisted Activities to members of the community, but many are also being trained to join The Donkey Sanctuary’s Rehoming Scheme. And, of course, the Centre also provides a happy and peaceful home for donkeys, right in the Centre of beautiful Sutton Park.
Cate added: “Every donkey has a different character. We have donkeys who are like teenagers, always getting involved in things that they think are interesting, and then we have quieter curious donkeys, we have loud donkeys that like to lead – they’re just like human beings.”
It’s that similarity to people – and their ability to emote with the humans they encounter – that make the residents of The Donkey Sanctuary so remarkable.
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The Donkey Sanctuary
Town Gate, Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield B74 2YT
0121 354 9444