Last week I met a truly inspirational couple. It was a lovely sunny morning when I went over to the Visitors' Centre to meet Judy and Alan Bishop, where I found them busily stocking up on donkey goodies.

I was warmly greeted by Judy as she explained that this visit was a treat for her 60th birthday, and she had made the 500 mile round trip from Colchester in Essex to Sidmouth with her husband Alan in a chauffer driven Mercedes, to hand deliver £150 she had been saving to donate to The Donkey Sanctuary to buy some fly masks and mobile units to support our overseas work.

We went to load up the car with their newly acquired goods and they introduced me to their driver Val who showed me the rather luxurious car that they had hired from Carlton Luxury Car Service. We went to see the EST donkeys, and saw Rachel grooming Mr Pickwick. When I explained it was Judy’s birthday and that she had travelled such a long way, Rachel brought Mr Pickwick out for a sneaky birthday cuddle which I hope made Judy’s day extra special!

Next I showed Alan and Judy where to find Laurel and Hardy, as they have been following their progress on our website and wanted to see the celebrities after watching them on Animals 24/7. The two boys were showing off in the paddock and Judy said “Oh look at them, they look so happy, I bet they can’t believe it’s true that they are here, they must think they have died and gone to heaven after all they have been through”.

As we watched the donkeys, Alan was taking photos of them and Judy explained that they were going to print out the pictures of the donkeys and send them to the soldiers in Afghanistan, as another charity close to their heart is Support our Soldiers; they send out care parcels to the troops filled with toiletries, stationery, sweets, games and a letter. Judy said that lots of the soldiers are animal lovers and it would make their day to receive a nice photo of a donkey. I asked how many boxes they send a month and was amazed when the answer came back that next month they will probably send approx 50!

I was then further amazed when they told me they also collect bedding and food for the local animal shelters in their area as well as supporting The Donkey Sanctuary and visiting our website every day and watching the webcams.

I felt truly inspired after meeting Judy and Alan, they were such genuinely lovely people and it really touched my heart that on Judy’s birthday she chose to visit us to make a donation.

As I wished them goodbye Judy said to me “We are involved in quite a few charities and this one is exemplary, if they were all run like this one, the world would be a better place” and as I walked away I was left thinking what a lucky charity we are to have such wonderful supporters, and how lucky I am that I get to meet them!