They say the simple things in life are free, and you can help out Woodside animal sanctuary in a simple way with the paper you are reading now.

The animal rescue based in Elfordleigh, gets through dozens of papers everyday in its care for the almost 200 animals it has on site. The sanctuary doesn’t just care for cats and dogs but many small animals such as rabbits and hamsters. These, along with the cats, all use newspapers in litter trays and on pen floors, and have done since the sanctuary began almost 50 years ago.

It has always seen a plentiful supply but in the past few years stock has dwindled. Woodside does regular shout outs for supplies on social media, but hopes that by publicising their need in this newspaper may encourage readers to pass on their papers in a new recycling fashion.

Carole Bowles MBE, founder of Woodside said “It’s amazing how much newspapers are used in day to day functioning of an animal sanctuary. Although, we understand that many people now follow the news online, we hope that enough people still purchase papers to be able to help us in our request”.

Donations of papers can be dropped to the sanctuary itself any day between 9.30-4.30 as well as any of its charity shops or community collection points.

You can contact the sanctuary on 01752347503 or through it’s Facebook page @woodsideanimalsanctuary