AS SOON as you walk into Secret World Wildlife Rescue you know you have entered somewhere truly special.

The wildlife charity, in East Huntspill, was started by farmers Pauline and Derek Kidner in 1984 but was initially opened as a visitor attraction under the name New Road Farm.

But after seeing the way animals were being cared for at the farm, residents started to bring injured wildlife to Pauline in the hope they could be cared for here.

As a result, Pauline developed a love for wildlife and as her knowledge grew, so did her reputation for caring for wild animals.

She opened Secret World, or Bluebell Sett as it was then known, in 1992 and hasn’t looked back.

The charity celebrated its 25th anniversary this year and now has more than 600 active volunteers.

These dedicated volunteers have rescued 4,104 animals from across Somerset this year and work tirelessly to make sure our wildlife is safe.

Samantha Hannay, head of external relations at Secret World, has the tough job of finding funds to keep this animal sanctuary alive and said the volunteers work tirelessly to make sure animals are released.

“We rely entirely on the generosity of volunteers and donations to keep this place going – it has really grown in the last 25 years,” she said.

“Throughout the year we have different animals coming in and we have to be able to care for all of them, its a real challenge.

“At the moment we are caring for a more than 100 hedgehogs and have a dedicated team of volunteers who really help care for them at our hedgehog rehabilitation area, Hogwarts.”

Despite the abundance of wildlife, what makes this place so wonderful is the pride the volunteers and full time staff take in their work.

One volunteer, Phil Lambert, has been volunteering at Secret World for the past seven years and says he really enjoys taking care of the birds they have on site.

“I started volunteering after I retired as I have always had an interest in birds and often went walking and bird watching,” Phil said.

“A lot of the birds we have here can’t be released into the wild so we take them out on the glove and make sure they are fed and watered in the bird sanctuary. I really enjoy spending time with the birds, its great.”

Animal carer, Dan Bryant, who was rushed off his feet caring for more than 100 ill hedgehogs, spoke passionately about his job and said he has a real passion for caring for animals.

“Its an interesting job, you never know what animal is going to come through the door,” Dan said.

“At the moment it’s hedgehog season so we have a lot of hedgehogs suffering from worms and other conditions which we have to keep in incubators.

"At times it is really tough because if an animal is really sick you have to decide whether to put them to sleep or to keep caring from them.

"Its always emotional to see an animal put down but it is also fantastic to see animals recover and be released. I really enjoy it."

The charity relies entirely on donations and Sam says a number of schemes have raised thousands of pounds to keep it going.

“We recently spent £6,000 replacing one of the bird sanctuaries as they were getting a bit worse for wear,” Sam said.

“We are also planning to replace the rest of the bird houses but we need more funds to do that.

"We also want to redo a number of our buildings where we care for the animals here as they are becoming quite dated.

"We are already involved in a number of fundraising initiatives but we do really appreciate donations from the public.

“The donations we get go a long way towards making sure we can keep this place going.”

Sam hopes to get enough funds to redo the buildings in the New Year. and said she hopes the wildlife haven will continue to grow.

“We celebrated our 25th anniversary this year and it is amazing to see just how far we have come, we hope to have another successful year next year.”