Volunteer for animal sanctuary which serves Leeds running 31 marathons in 31 days to raise money for 'special place'

Millington’s Magical Barn in West Yorkshire homes an array of animals, including ones with special needs.

The sanctuary has rescued over 80 animals across three years and even helped a sheep have a bionic leg specially made in the United States of America.

Josh Millingtons from Ossett is currently over halfway through his mammoth challenge and is already closing in on the £7,000 mark.

He said: “Since I've gone up there [to Millington’s Magical Barn], my life has changed quite a lot.

"When you see animals in a different light like that, when they're loved and cared for, it's completely different.

"They changed my life and I wanted to do something to change theirs. That's why I undertook something silly to raise a lot of money.”

Animals at the sanctuary have been saved from abuse, neglect and even slaughter.

Josh said: “We've got blind sheep, a sheep with a bionic leg we had to get specially made in America, we've got cows, alpacas, everything.

"It's a special place because they're loved for, they're cared for, you can see that on all our social medias. It's a pretty amazing place and Jake [Ratcliffe] who owns it is a pretty inspirational guy.

"He puts all his time in around his full-time job. He inspires all of us volunteers to keep going back and helping.”

A yearly challenge is usually taken on by founder Jake Ratcliffe but an injury halted his plans for 2022.

Fortunately, keen runner Josh stepped up and his final run will end at the sanctuary on August 21.

Jake said: “The sanctuary relies on funds to stay open and continue rescuing animals.

"I had ACL reconstruction surgery so Josh stepped up and decided to go a little bit extra.

"He's feeling it and his body is beginning to break down but he's still running at a ridiculous pace. It's sensational what he's doing.

"He's doing all this while maintaining his full-time job so it's truly awe-inspiring what he's doing.”

Also in news: Dogs Trust issues urgent appeal for Yorkshire volunteers to foster pets of domestic abuse survivors

Josh added: “I am very sore, I've got a bit of a strain on my quad so that's taking some pain management at the minute.

"My feet are blistered beyond belief but apart from that I'm pretty mentally strong and feeling good.

"You get a lot of positive messages from people, people keep baking for me and I keep getting little presents through the door like socks and isotonic gels and things like that. It's really nice that people are supporting me.”

Both Jake and Josh care for their animals while keeping on top of full-time jobs away from Millington’s Magical Barn.

Josh is a greenkeeper and Jake is the owner of an electrical company.

The sanctuary say they were in the process of applying to become a registered charity before the Covid-19 pandemic and that a tightening of resources and administration delays have slowed the process down.

Their JustGiving page shows that they have passed the £6,500 mark and Josh has placed on record his appreciation for those who have shown support for his fundraising efforts.

He said: “I want to say a massive thank you, it would be pretty demoralising if I was running and wasn't getting any donations and wasn't seeing it make a change.

"Every time I finish a run and I check that total, it's going up slowly. It's creeping up and creeping up.

"It makes it all worthwhile knowing that when I'm finished, there's going to be quite a big pot of money that is going to make a massive difference to every animal at that sanctuary and the sanctuary itself.”

Donations can be made on the official JustGiving page to help the sanctuary reach its target of £30,000.