RHONDA AND HER DONKEYS: FOUR LEGGED FRIENDS MAKE GOOD NEIGHBOURS
April 23
Local hero medal winner says that looking after several donkeys in Chorleywood helps her stay calm and happy.
Rhonda Vanderwood, who lives just outside Rickmansworth, said she is “thrilled” to be awarded a Covid 19 Local Hero Medal by Chorleywood Parish Council for her part time job as a street cleaner in Chorleywood.
Rhonda works twelve hours per week as a street cleaner for Three Rivers District Council and often chats to Chorleywood residents at the shops.
When she is not litter-picking, her other “job” is looking after several donkeys which are kept in a field opposite Van Hage Garden Centre in the summer. Rhonda owns two of the five donkeys and says “I think of them as pets. They’re very calming, their fur is soft, they nuzzle you and they reciprocate kindness, even putting your head on their shoulder.”
Rhonda’s love of donkeys started when her brother was killed in a car accident in 2010, at a time when Rhonda was working for somebody who had been given a baby donkey called Floppsie to be weaned.
“Floppsie jumped over the stable door and I thought befriending her would be a good way to help me get over my grief,” said Rhonda.
Rhonda is originally from Montreal, Canada where her Dutch parents emigrated in 1953. She settled in this area in 1992 when her job with an international hotel group moved to Watford. Rhonda still sees Floppsie, who turned 11 in May.
She visits the donkeys in their field every day, to feed and water them and to check they don’t have wounds
Text: Philippa and Lucinda Walton
Photos – Brigitte Bott Photography
