Over the festive period, we would like to shine a light on the lesser known charities in the Isle of Man.

There are a few large charities in the island who often get a mention in our pages.

While these organisations undoubtedly do great work and should be celebrated - we wanted to reach out to those charities who people may not know.

After the last couple of years of trying to keep afloat during a global pandemic, we’re sure local charities would love some extra support.

We will be featuring charities across all three of our publications.

Our next charity is the Isle of Man Parrot Sanctuary (Charity 1286).

The sanctuary helps provide a permanent home for abandoned parrots which would not otherwise have a home.

This can be due to their ’age, health needs and/or behavioural issues rendering them unattractive for public adoption’.

They also provide temporary care and accommodation for parrots in cases of financial hardship where the owners are unable to do so for themselves due to their own ill health.

They hope to raise awareness among the public of matters relating to the care and welfare of parrots.

We spoke to founder, Sandy Casey, to find out more about their work.

Why / When did you form?

Julian [my partner] and I have had parrots for the past 25 years.

We have been operating as a charity for the past two years and provide a forever home for parrots that their owners can no longer look after for a variety of reasons (i.e. ill health, the passing of the previous owner, behavioral problems etc.).

We realized that there was a need for a sanctuary when we were asked to take on two parrots, and then shortly after another four parrots.

We now have 15 parrots of different species and two that are waiting to come in.

What has been your biggest achievement or proudest moment since forming?

We are very proud that we have been able to self fund an outdoor aviary with sleeping area for six of our residents and that through our Facebook page and donations made were able to get the funds for an aviary for our latest resident Boz, a green wing macaw.

What is your biggest ambition / goal for the future?

Our goal for the immediate future is an outdoor walk through aviary for the African Greys in our care. With a sleeping area, this will cost approximately £10,000.

How can people get involved/where can they donate?

Anybody who would like to donate can find all details of bank accounts and PayPal on our Facebook page ’Isle of Man Parrot Sanctuary’.

l If you would like to see your charity featured, please email: [email protected]