Your Questions Answered: How £2/Month Can Save Nibbles Rabbit & Rodent Rescue

Introduction – Who We Are, and Why We’re Sharing This Now

Nibbles was born out of necessity. At the time, there was no dedicated rescue for rabbits and rodents in South West Wales—no specialist facility to meet their specific needs or offer the kind of care they deserve. These animals are often overlooked, misunderstood, and treated as disposable. We wanted to change that.

You can read more about how Nibbles came into existence and what we’ve achieved over the last ten years in our recent blog post, but in short: we started from nothing, and built a rescue from the ground up—one that puts species-specific care at the heart of everything we do.

We were the first specialist rabbit and rodent rescue in South West Wales. Ten years later, we are still the only one.

Those first seven years were spent building, growing, adapting, and learning. We developed a purpose-built rescue centre designed to meet the unique needs of these species—providing not only physical safety, but also emotional support, enrichment, and rehabilitation. Our goal has always been simple: to give rabbits and rodents the same chance at happiness as their more familiar counterparts—dogs and cats.

Every policy, every routine, and every decision we’ve made has been shaped by that goal. We exist to ensure that every animal in our care receives the best possible standard of welfare within a rescue environment. Their wellbeing is at the centre of everything we do.

But now, Nibbles is facing the very real possibility of closure. Unless we can raise enough monthly support to secure our future, we will be forced to close permanently on 31st December 2025.

This blog exists to explain why—openly and honestly. To share what’s really happening behind the scenes. To answer the questions we’re receiving every day. And to give people a clearer understanding of why we’re asking for help—before it’s too late.

---

The Financial Crisis – How We Got Here

From the very beginning, Nibbles has grown slowly and steadily—always in line with what we could reasonably sustain. Every additional enclosure, every new facility, every step forward was taken with care. We never overreached. We never expanded beyond our means. Instead, we focused on building long-term, physical and financial support so we could help more animals safely, without compromising standards.

Between 2015 and 2021, this approach allowed us to continue growing. Over time, we were able to construct new enclosures, strengthen our infrastructure, and gradually increase the number of animals we could care for. It wasn’t fast, but it was stable—and it allowed us to remain focused on what mattered most: giving each animal in our care the high standard of support they deserve.

Between the end of 2019 and early-2022, we saw a marked increase in support. More people were pledging monthly, one-off donations were more frequent, grant funding was easier to obtain and for the first time we had the opportunity to move ahead with long-held plans. This period enabled us to complete the remaining infrastructure needed at the rescue and—just as importantly—to bring on a small team of paid staff to support the care of the animals.

This decision wasn’t made lightly. But by that stage, we were caring for 60+ animals on site. It simply wasn’t possible to meet their daily needs safely and consistently without paid help. While we’ve always valued volunteers, the scale of care required—and the consistency needed—meant that relying on voluntary support alone would have left us, and the animals, vulnerable.

By the end of summer 2022, we completed the final eight enclosures—filling the last of our available space and completing the centre. It should have marked the beginning of a new phase for Nibbles. But it didn’t.

Instead, we entered a sharp and sudden decline.

The Turning Point

As 2022 came to a close, we saw a dramatic drop in support. Monthly pledges were cancelled, new pledges stopped, one-off donations fell, and grant funding for core costs all but disappeared.

We ended the year with £22,000 less funding than in 2021. That drop marked the beginning of the financial crisis we’re now in.

In less than 12 months, we were forced to:

• Close our rodent cabin

• Scrap plans to replace three ageing rabbit units—two of which were intended for permanent sanctuary residents

• Close nine additional rabbit enclosures

Not because we wanted to. But because we could no longer afford to provide a suitable level of care at our full capacity.

At first, we hoped these changes would be temporary. We believed that with time, effort, and renewed support, we could reopen the closed housing, repair and renovate the rodent cabin, and return to full capacity. That hope carried us through 2023.

But it didn’t happen.

We limped through 2024, surviving month to month. Despite our best efforts to grow support, the financial foundation never returned. We turned away at least one rabbit or rodent every other day—sometimes more. Our mission became painfully limited. We were no longer a functioning rescue—we were just hanging on.

Where We Stand Now

Our dedication to these animals has never changed. But the financial reality has left us crippled. We’ve done everything we can to stretch resources, cut costs, and hold the line—but we cannot meet our funding requirements for 2026. And without that stability, we have no choice but to begin preparing for closure.

If we are unable to raise enough monthly support to cover our core running costs by the end of this year, Nibbles will close permanently on 31st December 2025—leaving rabbits and rodents in South West Wales once again without any specialist rescue support.

---

Rising Costs – The Hidden Weight Behind the Crisis

While our funding was falling, our costs were rising. And fast.

The gap between what we had and what we needed widened into a gulf—one we’ve tried everything to bridge without compromising welfare. We've scaled back wherever possible: reducing the number of beds and litter trays in each enclosure to cut down on bedding, hay, disinfectant, and blue roll. This also helped reduce the time it takes to clean each space, saving both supplies and labour hours.

We’ve also limited the number of animals at the rescue. For the last six months of 2023, we operated at a significantly reduced capacity. And yet, even with fewer animals on site and already reduced supply usage, our core animal care costs dropped by just 16.7% compared to 2022—a year in which eight of our enclosures weren’t even available for use until the final quarter.

Meanwhile, basic costs continue to rise sharply:

• Neutering, once around £70, is now £159

• Vaccinations have risen from £45 to £85 for a single Nobivac Plus

• Minimum wage increases—while absolutely fair and necessary—have pushed up staffing costs year on year

Every aspect of rescue work is now more expensive—from food and hay to veterinary care and insurance. And these increases have far outpaced the rate at which we’ve been able to grow support and scramble back from that initial loss in 2022.

We’re not just facing a funding shortfall—we’re being squeezed from both sides: rising costs and falling funding. And despite all our efforts to reduce where we can, we simply can’t make the numbers work without stable, reliable support.

---

How We Plan and Fund Our Work – 12 Months Ahead

Our guiding principle is simple: no animal in our care should ever go without—whether that is hay, bedding, routine grooming, health checks, or prompt veterinary treatment. To make that possible we need more than goodwill; we need a funding model that offers real stability.

Why We Budget a Year in Advance

Since 2020 we have worked one full year ahead. At the start of each calendar year, the funds required for the next twelve months are already ring‑fenced. We achieve this in two ways:

1. Reserves built up during the previous year (including our £3,000 emergency‑vet fund).

2. Predictable monthly pledges that flow in throughout the year.

This forward‑planning approach means we can guarantee that every essential cost will be covered—animal supplies, staff wages, vaccinations, insurance, web hosting, management software, utilities—long before the invoices land. It protects the animals from sudden shortfalls and allows us to focus on their welfare, not on whether we can pay a bill next week.

The Widening Gap

Unfortunately, the gap between what pledges bring in and what each new year actually costs has grown wider every year since 2022. By mid‑2023 we found ourselves scrambling every single month to bridge that deficit. Grants for core costs dried up, one‑off donations fell, and pledge growth slowed just as expenses surged.

The result has been exhausting. Each month begins with the same question: Can we find enough to meet next year’s budget? The mental weight of that uncertainty has forced us to make impossibly hard choices—most painfully, turning away rabbits and rodents we would once have welcomed without hesitation.

Why 31 December 2025 Matters

After carefully reviewing the figures—and recognising the toll this constant financial pressure is taking on both the organisation and on my own health—we set a clear and final deadline. If we cannot close the funding gap by 31 December 2025—securing the pledges we need to meet our 2026 budget—we will begin the process of closing the centre.

This decision wasn’t made lightly. But if we can’t guarantee that we’ll still be here 12 months later, we cannot in good conscience continue. Many of the rabbits who arrive here stay for a year or more before being adopted—some, like our permanent sanctuary residents, remain with us for life. We’ve had rabbits in our care for over three and a half years. If we cannot promise that we’ll still be here in a year’s time, how can we commit to taking in new arrivals? How can we provide the stability the animals already in our care so deeply deserve?

That uncertainty is what keeps me awake at night. It’s what has left a constant sick feeling in the pit of my stomach since 2023—a feeling that has only grown worse with time.

This isn’t just about whether we could make it into another year. It’s about what that would actually mean. Living hand to mouth—surviving month by month—has already made us ineffective in our core mission. In 2022, we helped 97 animals, with less overall housing than we have now. In 2024, that number fell to just 7. Not because the need has disappeared, but because our funding instability no longer allows us to respond with confidence and certainty. 

Yes, we could possibly limp into 2026, just as we’ve limped through 2024 and 2025. But that would mean a third consecutive year of turning far more animals away than we can help—trapped in survival mode, unable to plan or progress, still asking the same question: can we even make it through the year after that?

That’s not rescue. It’s slow-motion collapse.

We owe it to the animals to do better than that. We owe it to our supporters to be honest about where we stand. And we owe it to ourselves to make decisions based on care, not fear.

So far this year, we’ve already been operating at a loss each month. Between January and May 2025, our funding has fallen short of our core running costs by £3,818. That shortfall is currently being covered by the reserves we were able to build up during 2024—but those reserves are finite. Without a meaningful increase in long-term support, they will run out—and we will not have what we need to enter 2026 with security.

Until that deadline, we are focusing every possible effort on rebuilding stable, monthly support—because that is what will keep Nibbles open, keep these animals safe and enable us to start accepting new arrivals with confidence once again.

---

What We Need – Reliability Over Quick Fixes

We are so grateful for the many messages of support we receive, and for all the suggestions people have shared about ways to help keep Nibbles open. Every message is appreciated. But we also want to reassure our supporters that we have explored every idea that’s come our way. Many we’ve already tried. Others we’ve carefully considered but don’t have the time, staff capacity, or funding to implement. To go through each idea individually would fill a small book, not a blog post—so instead, we want to clearly explain what we actually need, and why.

At the heart of this is one key principle: reliability.

Every month, we need to cover our core running costs. That includes animal supplies, staff salaries, vet fees for sanctuary and long-stay rabbits (e.g. annual boosters), insurance, utilities, and essential software and admin costs. These are the non‑negotiables—the costs that ensure every animal in our care receives what they need, every single day.

Why has this become a crisis? For the past two years we have been plugging an ever‑widening hole between those core costs and the funding that actually arrives each month. Since the summer of 2023 every spare penny raised—raffles, auctions, birthday fundraisers—has been diverted to cover that shortfall. It has kept the lights on, but it has also meant:

• Running the rescue well below capacity because we cannot fund basic essentials and care costs

• Reducing intakes even when we have basic funding as we can’t cover intake costs (neutering etc)

• Shelving essential repairs: the rodent cabin remains closed, three damaged rabbit units are still waiting for replacement, and everyday maintenance is done only when something breaks

• Watching our intake, emergency, and maintenance kitties drain away with no funds left to top them back up

• Halting future plans—infrastructure improvements, education projects, and community outreach—in favour of simply keeping the basics going

All of our energy and resources have gone into survival mode. Month after month we scramble to bridge the gap, knowing the gap is growing faster than we can catch up. That is why we now have to focus on a single goal: making sure the core pillar is covered by reliable pledges, so everything else can function again.

We then have four additional areas that also require funding:

1. Intake costs – Most rabbits arriving at the rescue need to be neutered and vaccinated, and many require dental treatment too. This can bring the cost of taking in a new rabbit to £500 or more. Our adoption fee is just £80, which leaves a large funding gap. We can pause intake when needed and raise one-off funds through an appeal or fundraising event. Every time we raise £500 and have an empty enclosure, we can say yes to the next rabbit in need.

2. Maintenance and repairs – We hold around £1,000 in unallocated funding to cover repairs, replacements, and upkeep (e.g. broken litter trays, roofing sheets, or equipment like our power hose). When this fund runs low, we can top it up with a one-off event or appeal.

3. Emergency vet care – We keep a £3,000 reserve for unexpected medical treatment. This allows us to act quickly if an animal becomes unwell, like in Bridget’s case. We top this up through fundraisers so it’s always there for the next emergency.

4. Capital projects – These cover infrastructure improvements like new rabbit units, repairing the rodent cabin, or replacing our destroyed storage shed. We generally apply for grant funding for these projects. While grant funding for capital work is still available, very few funders support core running costs—and those that do are highly oversubscribed.

This is where confusion often arises. Capital and core costs are funded in very different ways:

• Capital costs are one-off investments—things like buildings or equipment. Funders often prefer these because they’re tangible and have a clear start and end point.

• Core costs are the regular, ongoing essentials. These keep the rescue operating—things like wages, hay, electricity, insurance. They’re less “exciting” to fund but absolutely vital.

Without core costs covered, we simply can’t function. That’s why we budget 12 months ahead—to make sure we can always meet those fundamental needs.

Unfortunately, as pledges have dropped and core costs have risen, we’ve had to divert all spare funds to cover this shortfall. That means we haven’t been able to replenish our other reserves. We can’t fund new arrivals, ensure long-term funding availability to cover vet emergencies, or apply for capital grants—because no funder will back a failing rescue, and rightly so.

Even when a rabbit is adopted, we can’t necessarily say yes to the next—because there’s no funding left in the kitty to cover their intake.

We’ve become increasingly ineffective in our mission. Right now, we are financially unable to do the work we exist to do: rescue and rehome unwanted rabbits and rodents.

Ideas like holiday boarding, on-site bonding, charity shops, or online stores are all good suggestions—but every one of them requires upfront investment, additional staff, and more capacity than we currently have. In practice, they would create more pressure—not solve it.

If we reach our pledge target by the end of 2025 and stay open, we will absolutely return to one-off events and appeals to help rebuild our reserves. But right now, our most urgent and critical need is long-term sustainability and this is why we are focusing all of our energy, outside of the day-to-day care of the animals, towards building pledges and not running auctions.

Because without it, we can’t provide for the rabbits in our care properly long term. And we would never let that happen—so our only other option is closure.

---

What We’re Doing to Grow Support – Strengths, Gaps, and Help Needed

If there’s one thing we do exceptionally well at Nibbles, it’s caring for rabbits and rodents—spotting the first sign of pain, tailoring enrichment for nervous newcomers, and supporting behavioural cases that would overwhelm many other rescues. Those skills come from years of hands‑on welfare work, and they’re at the heart of what makes this place special.

By contrast, none of us came to rescue work with a marketing background. While strong outreach is essential to keep the doors open, it doesn’t help when a rabbit suddenly stops eating or a fearful rabbit needs gentle understanding. Our instinct—and our training—has always been to focus on the animals first.

That leaves a gap. We know it. And we’re doing everything we reasonably can to close it, learning as we go:

Steps we’ve taken in 2024‑25

• New donation platform chosen to make giving faster, easier and with lower fees.

• Website rebuild under way to tell our story clearly and guide supporters smoothly.

• Monthly blogs and supporter newsletters written and sent—usually starting well before dawn each morning.

• Regular (if not viral) social posts filmed, edited, and scheduled around cleaning, vet runs, and repairs. A single reel can still swallow an entire day, especially when the stars would rather snooze than binky.

• Google Ads Grant research: we’re on the request list for pro-bono support and wrestling with conversion‑tag tutorials whenever we can steal half an hour.

• Volunteer call‑outs across multiple platforms for specialist help—so far without finding a long‑term match.

All of this happens while we cope with staff illness, burnout and exhaustion, a complex medical case like Bridget, and the daily running of the centre. I push myself to learn, develop and grow in the same hours I'm taking rabbits to the vet —because there is no one else to do either job.

We don’t want to be internet famous; we want to be effective: rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming rabbits and rodents who otherwise have nowhere to turn. Marketing is the tool, not the goal—but it’s a tool we urgently need skilled help to wield.

If you have professional experience in digital marketing—particularly social media strategy or Google Ads Grants—and can offer consistent, hands‑on support, please email team@nibbles.org.uk. With your expertise, we can keep our focus where it belongs: on the animals, while still building the reliable funding that keeps their hay racks filled and their vet bills paid.

Why We Haven’t Gone to the Local Press

This is one of the most frequent suggestions we receive. In theory, it sounds like a quick win. In practice, our experiences have ranged from disappointing to actively unhelpful. At best, we received no public response; at worst, a story prompts a surge of surrender requests—or even enquiries from breeders looking to “swap stock.” Until we have the capacity to cope with that kind of fallout, local press simply doesn’t give us the sustainable support we need.

When core funding is secure, we can revisit press outreach and every other idea on the table. For now, our priority is clear: keep the animals safe today and develop or find the specialist marketing support that will safeguard their tomorrow.

---

The Road Ahead – Hope, Uncertainty, and One Last Chance

We didn’t write this blog for sympathy. We wrote it for clarity.

Because what’s happening here is not the result of mismanagement, overreaching, or lack of care. It’s the direct consequence of rising costs, falling support, and a society that still doesn’t see rabbits and rodents as the intelligent, emotional, and complex companions they truly are.

We are doing everything we can—working harder than ever, learning new skills, pushing ourselves past exhaustion—not just to survive, but to give every animal who needs us a chance at a brighter future.

At the time of writing, we need just 658 people to pledge £2 a month to keep Nibbles open and running. Just 658 people who believe that these animals deserve the same standard of rescue support so often afforded to dogs and cats. That’s all it would take to secure the future of West Wales’ only dedicated rabbit and rodent rescue.

We have until 31st December 2025 to turn this around. If we succeed, we can keep going. We can reopen closed enclosures, say yes to the animals no one else will take, and return to doing what we do best: providing safety, care, and second chances.

If we fail, we will close with dignity—ensuring every animal here is safe and secure before we go.

But we haven’t given up yet. There is still time. And if enough people stand with us, we believe Nibbles can survive this storm—and come back stronger.

👉 If you believe these animals deserve better, please sign up today to make a regular monthly pledge

Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring. And thank you for standing with us, however you can.