A HUGE campaign to raise £300,000 to create a safe haven for all 'unwanted' animals has been launched by Wirral Animal Sanctuary.

Inspired by Freshfields in Liverpool, it has been Wirral Animal Sanctuary founder Steph Oliver's dream to create a fully functioning animal rescue centre for all animals from pets to farm animals and wildlife.

Last year, the charity moved their Hog Centre to Larton Liveries after outgrowing their original space in Hoylake.

Now that the hedgehog centre is settled and they have now been approved with the RSPCA, Steph believes it's now time to put the focus back to creating a safe haven for all animals.

Steph told the Globe: "The dream is to have a fully functional animal rescue in our local area, with a large capacity for cats.

"We are currently turning away sometimes four or five cats a day simply due to the fact we have nowhere to keep them safe and this really breaks our hearts.

"We find that for cats, space is really lacking in Wirral, with the wonderful Wirral RSPCA constantly at capacity and the other rescues struggling with foster homes.

"The cattery of our dreams will have isolation areas, mum and baby units plus beautiful cattery pens with outdoor spaces for sun bathing.

"We also hope to have space for a kennel block and outdoor exercise areas.

"Dogs in our care have a lot of rehabilitation work carried out with them before they are rehomed and that is something we are very passionate about.

"We hear so many stories, even some firsthand, about rescue dogs being adopted and because they are sadly so affected by their past they have so many issues.

"This can make life incredibly difficult for their new owners and sometimes they end up back at a rescue centre.

"By working with our friends at Paws In Nature, the dogs in our care will have full assessments, rehabilitation work if required and follow up help offered to new owners.

"We are also always inundated with rodents and reptiles and in the past have rehomed bearded dragons, snakes, degus, rabbits, hamsters, rats, mice and even a tarantula.

"Our dream new premises will have a building specifically for these animals that are often seen as easily disposed of.

"They will be cared for by specially trained staff and given all the love and attention in the world until their forever home finds them.

"The icing on the cake would be to also have space for some farm animals and perhaps a wildlife unit to help wild birds, foxes, etc. We can dream can't we?"

Steph believes that although the safe haven will take years of fundraising to achieve, they will also be applying for grants to secure the premises.

She added: "We will be holding fundraising events specifically for our premises.

"We will soon have a wishing well in each of our shops and at the Hog Centre for loose change to be donated to 'Our Dream' - it all adds up!

"We hope that our wonderful supporters will consider holding events, sponsored challenges, and many other ideas are in the pipeline.

"Please consider donating, even a £1 is a huge help, we need a lot of them to get where we need to be but we are ambitious and determined enough to do it. Thank you so much."

There will be many fundraising days and events to raise cash for Wirral Animal Sanctuary's dream, to see what's coming up visit https://www.facebook.com/wirralanimalsanctuary/

To donate to their new campaign to create a safe animal haven in Wirral visit https://wirralanimalsanctuary.charitycheckout.co.uk/cf/Wirral-Animal-Sanctuary-s-Premises-Fund