Gizmo, the eighteen-year-old eagle owl, looks on approvingly as Jacky Emm presents Roy Steggles with a £210 cheque, money raised while she was last year’s President of Midsomer Norton and Radstock’s Inner Wheel Club.

The donation will help towards the feeding and care of eighteen rescued birds of prey, plus cats, dogs and ponies that Roy and his wife, Linda, care for at their Spering Court Animal Rescue charity in Buckland Dinham.

No birds or animals are ever turned away, they are just nurtured and eventually found new homes.

Thanks to people’s generosity, hundreds of animals have been rehomed by the Steggles over the last twenty years.

Jacky was keen to support local charities during her year in office, and further donations have gone to the Children’s Air Ambulance and MSN’s Dweamah Dance Crew, that gives children the opportunity to dance, socialise, exercise and compete.

Sue Meadows