Wildlife Champion!

The Wildlife Aid Foundation originated in the 1980s as a small local wildlife rescue charity but has grown since then into one of the UK’s leading environmental and animal welfare organizations. The charity was started by Simon Cowell, who still heads it three decades later, both in a very practical ‘hands on’ way and as the Foundation’s Managing Trustee. When he's not actively fundraising or promoting the Foundation’s work, Simon still goes out in the middle of the night on rescues and is actively involved in the day-to-day care of the animals in our veterinary hospital and rehab centre. Here, he discusses why the Wildlife Aid Foundation is so important, not just to him but to future generations and the health of our planet.

 “Why the Wildlife Aid Foundation? Why does it matter? The answer, I believe, is because we have a duty to do our best – a duty to ourselves and to all those future generations as yet unborn – so when they are, they are able to live in a world that they are able to enjoy. In time, they will become the guardians of our planet, but we must ensure that we leave the earth in the best possible health, for them to protect for those that come after them. For thousands of years there has been a very delicate balance between Man and Nature, but in the past century that balance has shifted decisively in Man’s favour, to the detriment of the Natural world. We must redress that balance.

“I started this charity because I wanted to ‘do my bit’ but that has only worked because I’ve had a huge network of helpers and supporters – people who share my outlook and follow the same belief – and over time that network has grown and grown. It is like a chain reaction. Everyone in the chain can and does make a difference – no matter how small each individual piece of ‘difference’ is, taken together, the sum is far greater than the parts of the equation. I well appreciate that not everyone has the time or is able to help us in a ‘hands on’ way by volunteering at the centre, but every person can assist in some way, for instance by signing up as a member, by donating money or by leaving a legacy to the Foundation, or perhaps going out fundraising for us. There are many, many other ways in which you can help. The more support we have, the more we can do - it really is as simple as that.”

Simon Cowell - Wildlife Champion
Founder and Managing Trustee of the Wildlife Aid Foundation, Simon Cowell FRGS MCIJ MBE is also well known as the creator, producer and presenter of Wildlife SOS, Britain’s longest-running wildlife documentary series (now in its fifteenth year), and as a regular media commentator on animal welfare, nature conservation and environmental protection.

Broadcasting experience

The success of Wildlife SOS, which has been screened on ITV, Channel Five and Discovery Channel Animal Planet, has made Simon a familiar face (and voice) to millions of viewers and wildlife enthusiasts worldwide. He has also appeared on television programmes as diverse as The Alan Titchmarsh Show, Blue Peter and The One Show on BBC-1, GMTV and This Morning on ITV, and hosted an environmental radio show, Eco Hour, for two years. He is a regular interviewee on TV and radio. Wildlife SOS is currently Animal Planet’s highest rated programme.

Charity work

But it was Simon’s work in creating and developing the charity that eventually became the Wildlife Aid Foundation – for which he gave up his previous career as a City commodities broker – that earned Simon numerous accolades, such as the Charity Times ‘Personality of the Year’ award in 2003, and an MBE for services to wildlife in 2005. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of the Chartered Institute of Journalists and he believes that his most important role nowadays is to communicate the message of respect for wildlife and the natural environment.

Having started in 1980 as a small local rescue centre for injured and orphaned wildlife, the Wildlife Aid Foundation – based at Simon’s Surrey farmhouse – has grown by leaps and bounds in the intervening 31 years to become one of the country’s leading wildlife charities, with a state-of-the-art veterinary hospital and rehabilitation centre, and over 250 volunteer helpers. Patrons of Simon’s charity include Ricky Gervais, Sir Cliff Richard, Julie Walters and Chris Tarrant.

Simon remains the driving force behind the Wildlife Aid Foundation, as well as developing his own TV and multimedia production company, Wild Productions Ltd, which, in addition to Wildlife SOS, made the trailblazing medical documentary The Bionic Vet about the work of the pioneering veterinary surgeon Noel Fitzpatrick.

World-wide

In his TV role Simon has traveled and filmed not just in the British Isles but as far afield as South Africa, Tasmania, Thailand, Zambia, the Congo, Vietnam, and Namibia. He is a firm believer in the vital role of television as the major medium to educate and inform as well as entertain, bringing the message of environmental responsibility, respect for nature and compassion for animals into the homes of millions of people world-wide. He is passionate about education and about integrity in the media – something which he believes is sadly lacking!

Simon Cowell is not just an authoritative voice on ecology and animal welfare but a highly experienced and adaptable presenter, public speaker and narrator, and an engaging interviewee for chat shows and discussion programmes, with an overwhelming passion for his subject.

Visit Simon’s website: www.simon-cowell.org.uk, follow him on twitter, or email him on simon@wildlifeaid.org.uk