Hi <<First Name>>,

What a fortnight!! We’re all really putting in for our wildlife in what I like to call a 'silent bushfire'. No-one in a position of power – government or media – have any appreciation for the pressure we are under to help animals and birds affected by the extended heat.

As an organisation we have to get better at being able to report 'real time' stats and I can happily say we have a team working on just that! Sen Lin is back helping us create better, quicker reports and Matthew Swann of the Adelaide Hills team is busy building a new website that will integrate with our database and post live data on the home page. How good is that!!

All of this work is voluntary, led by the Board, and therefore will take some time but we hope to have this launched by the end of the year.

If you’re not a possum carer check out the posts in the SOWFI Possum Team Facebook group to see the great work of David Revell and the possum team creching ringtails and allocating them to carers and aviaries. This is not all the possums that came in but 19 that came in over a couple of days.

That may not sound like much to the uninitiated – however add 19 to already 'full' carers, possums that are dehydrated, have injuries, and the normal settling and stabilizing process – it’s a lot!! We are at the end of the season (we hope) and everyone is exhausted.

So, a reminder to everyone to help reduce pressure on people:
•  xMatters is designed to reduce pressure to already busy carers. This industry has a long history of 'burning out' their volunteers. We do not want to do that for SOWFI volunteers.

What does this mean in action?
• Do not ring/text/DM or tag a member and ask them if they can take or attend to something
• Login to xMatters and ensure your notifications are enabled so you can see what’s coming in and help where you can
• Respond to xMatters promptly and call the SOWFI Rescue Line (08 7120 6610) if you need transport
•  If none of our volunteers can respond to xMatters in an appropriate time frame, the phone team will get back to the vet or member of public and advise this, recommending they try other organisations.

We are still short on possum aviary space so if you can help out, please contact Species Specialist Natalie Logan on 0433 544 165.

And finally, I wish to extend a warm welcome to our newest members – this may be your first member update – which has followed one of the busiest weeks of the year. Hope you enjoy and thanks for joining us to help our wildlife.

For our wildlife!

Warm regards,
Marian