Wildlife hospital founder honoured with MBE

Caroline Gould founded Vale Wildlife Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre, which is now based in Beckford, near Tewkesbury, in the 1980s

The founder of an animal hospital said her recently awarded MBE is for "everybody else" involved at the charity, not just her.

Vale Wildlife Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre was founded by Caroline Gould in June 1984, and has since cared for countless animals that have found themselves ill, injured, or orphaned.

Mrs Gould's services to wildlife rehabilitation were recognised by the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle on Tuesday.

She credited paid staff, volunteers, and donations from the public for the Beckford centre's success.

Speaking to the BBC, Mrs Gould said of her MBE: "It's a huge honour on behalf of everybody here, and I think everyone's pretty proud.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's the charity that's got it for the work that everybody's done over more than 40 years."

Mrs Gould attended the ceremony with her husband, daughter, and friend, all of whom also work at the centre, and had a "great day", despite some nerves.

"I was very nervous, but [Princess Anne] was great and chatty," Mrs Gould said.

"They tell you how you should behave and that you bow your head. I tried to remember it all but it's all a bit surreal when you're in there."

The wildlife hospital takes care of hedgehogs, foxes, and owls, among many other species of British wildlife

Vale Wildlife Hospital began more than four decades ago, when Mrs Gould was asked by a vet to take in an injured tawny owl at the family's former home in Cropthorne, Worcestershire.

She said the MBE is recognition of the charity's work as a whole, as it's been "a long, long time since it was just me".

"I've been awarded it, but if it hadn't been for everybody else, and there have been hundreds of people involved, then we wouldn't have got to 40 years," Mrs Gould said.

"I'm very proud of everything that everybody has done here, and the work that we're still doing now, and we hope to be able to continue that."