A letter of thanks from Charles

A few weeks ago, when Tricia told me that she was going to sew bat wraps and joey pouches for Charles to use in his wildlife rescue work, I suggested I call in our wonderful sewing bee girls to add a few more to the collection.  I didn't think that we'd end up receiving over 200 wraps and pouches but that's what arrived.  I know I can always count on you. Thank you, ladies, you've been so generous. ♥️

Charles with some of the parcels he received.

Charles sent this letter to everyone who took part in the project:

To all members of the sewing group who posted bat wraps and joey pouches or donated money to Wildlife Groups such as the Koala Hospital Port Macquarie and WIRES NSW.

I am Charles de Chelard, Rhonda's nephew. I volunteer for Blue Mountains WIRES, the koala hospital Port Macquarie and the Blue Mountains koala project, Science for Wildlife.

I would like to sincerely thank you for all the time and effort you have spent making bat wraps and joey pouches, and supporting Australian Wildlife groups. The amazing efforts you have made will be vital in caring for Flying Fox pups that have been abandoned. Many of these flying fox pups are now coming into care and the donated money will provide for their care as well as our unique Australian wildlife.

Wildlife Health Australia and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimate that the devastating bushfire crisis has significantly impacted over 1.25 billion animals. This includes over 8,400 koalas in NSW, with the numbers expected to rise. WIRES estimates that over 4.9 million hectares of Wildlife habitat have been destroyed.

I would like to again express how thankful I am receiving your sewing from all over Australia and overseas.  What you have done will make a real difference to the animals we rescue.

Yours Sincerely

Charles de Chelard 

Wildlife Volunteer

My sincere thanks to everyone who took part in this important project. You should all be very proud of the work you've done. I'm not going to list the names of the sewers because some want to remain anonymous. I have already shown photos of the sewing on our downtoearthsewingbee IG page but if you sent a parcel and want to identify yourselves in the comments, please do and tell us what you sent; that would be wonderful.

Charles has taken what he needs for his work from the parcels sent and he's giving the rest to Blue Mountain WIRES to share with the other wildlife volunteers there. They have a huge job ahead because it's been reported that 80 percent of the World Heritage area and many wilderness areas in the Blue Mountains have been burnt out.  I'm sure we all wish them well with the big job ahead.

I'm happy to say we had 65mm of rain in our backyard overnight and an additional 53mm since January 1. All along the coast and inland some distance west, including some of the bushfire areas, rain has been falling. It's not enough to put out all the fires, but it is a start and for that, I'm extremely grateful.