4 days ago
Animal lovers brave long, wet night in sleepout for great cause
A group of animal lovers raised funds by getting their heads down.
Nicola Boyle, 30, Laura Ashton, 35, Dawn Wood, 35, and her 10-year-old daughter Charlie-Mai, took on a 12-hour sleepout for Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary in Edenfield.
By setting up camp outside Bury's Tesco store on Friday, May 23, they raised more than £1,100 for the charity.
Nicola, who has her own dog -walking business, Walkies with Nic, said: 'The idea came after seeing a number of animals brought into the sanctuary as strays.
"These animals have most likely come from a once-loving home and find themselves on the streets through no fault of their own, scared, vulnerable, cold, and wet.'
She said Bleakholt was the chosen charity because of the hard work it puts into rehabilitating animals and rehoming them.
She added: 'The staff and the public were very supportive.
"We had people making donations on the night, including a police officer. Everyone was amazing.'
So committed was the group, that they braved adverse conditions despite only having sleeping bags to protect them from the elements.
'Although it was warm, we were faced with some awful rain from about midnight right through to 6am,' said Nicola.
'Thankfully we had shelter, however not all animals that get dumped have that luxury and often find themselves abandoned with nothing.'
To make a donation to Nicola's fundraising, visit
