A virtual tour of The Donkey Sanctuary is on offer tomorrow, Easter Sunday.

The sanctuary is closed to visitors because of the coronavirus, but a live broadcast on Facebook will follow the life of the resident donkeys and the staff who care for them, with six 15-minute broadcasts throughout the day.

At 10am, the broadcast will feature the main herd of around 50 donkeys in the heart of the sanctuary, before heading out to visit some of the adoption donkeys in their paddocks at 11am.

At noon there will be a chance to see the activities the workers provide to prevent the donkeys getting bored.

These ‘enrichment activities’ include encouraging the donkeys to play with toys, and games where they have to work out how to get a food treat out of a small container.

At 2pm the camera will focus on the long-haired giant Poitou donkeys, before taking a tour of the sanctuary with Ponk the donkey and his groom at 3pm.

The day will end at 4pm as viewers catch up with staff preparing the medications for the charity’s older donkeys.

Farm manager Maxine Carter said: “We wanted to create a special day for all those people who are missing their ‘donkey fix’.

“We hope that our regular visitors, supporters and those who have not yet visited the sanctuary will enjoy finding out more about our work, while seeing how our resident donkeys are cared for during this unprecedented time.”

Each live broadcast on Facebook will be led by the charity’s grooms, who spend their time caring for the donkeys at the Sidmouth sanctuary.

Visit The Donkey Sanctuary’s website: https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/ to find out more, and learn how to access the live ‘Sanctuary from your Sofa’ broadcasts.