When I retired from my job as a Regional Welfare Officer for The Donkey Sanctuary I was fortunate enough to be invited to become a Trustee for the charity. This new role was to lead to a most exciting trip to Kenya with the CEO David Cook to look at the work the charity does there.

Last week Pam Moon the Area Welfare Officer for Lancashire and Cumbria sent me this photo which she entitled "Flying Donkeys " which I thought was most appropriate. I am a camera nut and take hundreds of photos of donkeys ... how I wish I could claim to have taken this one!

While working for the Sanctuary as a welfare officer, I was fortunate enough to be part of a team to go out to Egypt to see the work of the Society for the Protection and Welfare of Donkeys and Mules in Egypt. This is an Egyptian based charity which obtains the majority of its funding from the Donkey Sanctuary. The charity is run by the General Co-Ordinator Dr Mourad M Ragheb who accompanied us throughout our stay.

Well done Jenifer. I have loved reading about your travels around the country judging Britain's Best Beach Donkey Competition. I was especially pleased with your choice of winner - Amanda Pickles and her group of donkeys at Filey.

In my job as Regional Welfare Officer with The Donkey Sanctuary, I used to meet lots of interesting people who have had a wealth of wonderful donkey stories to tell.

When Apollo was a yearling, he was brought into this country from France by George Larmett in the 1980s. George went to France looking for a large stallion to breed mules from.