Tinker
The Life of a Very Special
Donkey...
Tinker
The Life of a Very Special
Donkey...
We were heartbroken to have to say goodbye to Tinker on the morning of 13th May 2018, at the grand age of 46.
After a short illness, he has left a huge, empty void at our sanctuary...
Tinker came to Flicka from Freshfields Donkey Sanctuary in Derbyshire when John and Annie Stirling closed their doors in 2014. He was originally seized from a meat market by animal welfare and taken to a 10 star home at Freshfields. He was only around 12 years old at the time and spent 28 years with John & Annie.
After a short illness, he has left a huge, empty void at our sanctuary...
Tinker came to Flicka from Freshfields Donkey Sanctuary in Derbyshire when John and Annie Stirling closed their doors in 2014. He was originally seized from a meat market by animal welfare and taken to a 10 star home at Freshfields. He was only around 12 years old at the time and spent 28 years with John & Annie.
John has written some words about Tinker's life, which we wanted to share with you here:
“ I wanted to just jot down some of the wonderful twenty-eight years Annie and I spent with the most wonderful donkey...
- Tinker walked from Balmoral Castle to Buckingham Palace for a private audience with her Majesty the Queen, who brought Tinker some sliced carrots on ice on a silver platter whilst they walked around the garden!
- He walked Coast to Coast with children with special needs
- He walked from Galway Bay to Manchester with Chris de Burgh
- He walked from Manchester to Blackpool for The Lily Savage Cancer night at the Pleasure Beach
- He walked from Sheffield to Buxton with Marti Caine and special needs children
- Tinker also appeared on The Terry Wogan Show
- He fronted “ Songs of Praise” in Derbyshire
- He was on Timewatch with June Brown and Paul O’Grady for the BBC
- He featured on the Generation game with Bruce Forsyth and The Palladium with June Brown
- He appeared at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in a "Night of a Hundred Stars" for Cancer Research
- Tinker fronted The Bone Marrow appeal for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in 1998
- He appeared in “Coronation Street”, ” Keeping up appearances” and “The Royale Family” to name but a few!
- June Brown even had scenes in “Eastenders" with Tinker!
- He appeared on the North Pier and the Pleasure Beach with Lily Savage
Tinker was our flagship, our rock and our much loved and adored friend. He fought a year long cancer battle with two major operations and Annie and I knew that Flicka was the place we wanted Tinker and his friends to go when we decided to retire.
Nobody came forward to help us or take over our work, but the more I found out about The Flicka Foundation, the more I wanted our donkeys to go there. The Flicka Foundation was our savior - taking our whole herd with no questions asked and with little funds to accommodate them; a gesture of pure affection and care for the donkeys. Annie and I fought hard to see that our wishes were met and The Flicka Foundation was helped to proceed into the future as it so deserves to do.
Tinker could not have found a more loving and devoted home where the interests and welfare of the animal are the prime and only concerns, where those who maintain this wonderful place have suffered great personal hardship to make quite sure the donkeys have the paradise, peace and contentment they deserve and are so grateful for. On behalf of our wonderful Tinker - THANK YOU so much for being there and allowing him to spend such a truly wonderful life with his friends around him. He will be missed and he will always be remembered for being so unique, so generous, so willing and so loving. Please say goodbye to him from us both.
Keep up the wonderful and dedicated work which gave Tinker such joy and gives so many animals a wonderful life.
Thank you, love John and Annie x"
“ I wanted to just jot down some of the wonderful twenty-eight years Annie and I spent with the most wonderful donkey...
- Tinker walked from Balmoral Castle to Buckingham Palace for a private audience with her Majesty the Queen, who brought Tinker some sliced carrots on ice on a silver platter whilst they walked around the garden!
- He walked Coast to Coast with children with special needs
- He walked from Galway Bay to Manchester with Chris de Burgh
- He walked from Manchester to Blackpool for The Lily Savage Cancer night at the Pleasure Beach
- He walked from Sheffield to Buxton with Marti Caine and special needs children
- Tinker also appeared on The Terry Wogan Show
- He fronted “ Songs of Praise” in Derbyshire
- He was on Timewatch with June Brown and Paul O’Grady for the BBC
- He featured on the Generation game with Bruce Forsyth and The Palladium with June Brown
- He appeared at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in a "Night of a Hundred Stars" for Cancer Research
- Tinker fronted The Bone Marrow appeal for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in 1998
- He appeared in “Coronation Street”, ” Keeping up appearances” and “The Royale Family” to name but a few!
- June Brown even had scenes in “Eastenders" with Tinker!
- He appeared on the North Pier and the Pleasure Beach with Lily Savage
Tinker was our flagship, our rock and our much loved and adored friend. He fought a year long cancer battle with two major operations and Annie and I knew that Flicka was the place we wanted Tinker and his friends to go when we decided to retire.
Nobody came forward to help us or take over our work, but the more I found out about The Flicka Foundation, the more I wanted our donkeys to go there. The Flicka Foundation was our savior - taking our whole herd with no questions asked and with little funds to accommodate them; a gesture of pure affection and care for the donkeys. Annie and I fought hard to see that our wishes were met and The Flicka Foundation was helped to proceed into the future as it so deserves to do.
Tinker could not have found a more loving and devoted home where the interests and welfare of the animal are the prime and only concerns, where those who maintain this wonderful place have suffered great personal hardship to make quite sure the donkeys have the paradise, peace and contentment they deserve and are so grateful for. On behalf of our wonderful Tinker - THANK YOU so much for being there and allowing him to spend such a truly wonderful life with his friends around him. He will be missed and he will always be remembered for being so unique, so generous, so willing and so loving. Please say goodbye to him from us both.
Keep up the wonderful and dedicated work which gave Tinker such joy and gives so many animals a wonderful life.
Thank you, love John and Annie x"
Tinker enjoying life with a relaxing roll in the dust on a sunny spring morning in 2016!
