Zena was born prematurely two years ago, and staff monitoring her condition were concerned to see her curled up in the corner of the stable early one morning, with her mother, Flora, watching over her. Although Zena was breathing, she lay almost motionless in the straw.

It was a great feeling; putting on my boots and getting out of the office for the day. And what better way to spend it than by having a day at Paccombe Training Centre in the beautiful sunshine; extending my knowledge about donkeys.

Whilst sat at my desk on Wednesday morning, my colleague received a phone call from Maxine, the farm manager at Slade House Farm, saying they were going to release nine foals into the field after spending a few weeks indoors due to the bad weather. It was a case of hurryingly putting on our steel capped boots and grabbing the cameras before racing over to the paddock to see them.

My names Nicola Russell and I’m the new PR Assistant. This is my third day working at The Donkey Sanctuary and I’m extremely excited about being here! I am forever learning what a fantastic job the charity is doing. I was naive about the size of the charity-not only having farms in the UK, but how the charity has expanded in helping donkeys and mules all over the world.