Widow leaves £100,000 to donkey charity, after just one visit

A wealthy widow has left £100,000 to the Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary in her will — despite only visiting it once, ten years ago.

Sanctuary founder Cherryl Clarke couldn’t believe it when she discovered 89-year-old Irene Day, who died in 2008, donated the largest ever sum to the charity.

"It was absolutely amazing and we are very, very grateful to Mrs Day, because for a small charity like us, this was a massive amount of money, which will help donkeys for many years to come," said Cherryl.



Despite only making one visit to the sanctuary, Mrs Day, who lived in the Portsmouth area, used to send a donation every Christmas.

The sanctuary won’t receive the money for another 12 months but it will help finance a new care facility for donkeys in need of some extra TLC.

The Isle of Wight Donkey Sanctuary was one of 16 different organisations to receive a share of £1 million from Mrs Day in her will.