Kevin's Kingdom opens at Stonebridge City Farm in time for cold weather hit

Volunteers at the community charity built the new space thanks to support from members of the public over the previous few months. Named Kevin’s Kingdom, it is about six times bigger than his previous habitat.

Nestled in the centre of the farm, his new enclosure was made by turning a former animal handling shed into a reptile haven, complete with plants, heat lamps and humidity regulators.

Stonebridge City Farm provides a home for hundreds of animals, a safe space for the volunteers who help to run it and a free space to spend time with animals for residents of the city. It is based on Stonebridge Road in St Ann’s, Nottingham.

More than £4,000 was raised for Kevin from a combination of the charity’s Just Giving web page and its winter appeal. The latter allowed people to buy specific things, such as feed, healthcare, and habitat materials, for particular animals.

Meanwhile, more than £10,000 has been raised from more general donations over December and January.

Kevin’s Kingdom was officially opened by the Sheriff of Nottingham, Coun Nicola Heaton. She said: “Stonebridge is an amazing facility for the city and Kevin is such a beloved figure here.

“This will hopefully draw even more visitors because, in difficult economic times, it’s important to have local and accessible activities for families to get involved in. Kevin and the farm embody this for the people of Nottingham, so the enthusiasm is plain to see.”

Kevin is estimated to be 18 years old and has been in Stonebridge’s care since 2009, when his previous owner donated him after being surprised how big he grew.

Grace Devey, farm marketing and events coordinator, said: “We’ve been blown away by people’s generosity. The winter appeal bought a huge amount of items to look after the animals, but we weren’t prepared for how many products people donated from the farm’s Amazon wish list — many of which were specifically for Kevin.”

For more information about Stonebridge City Farm, the work it does, the animals it looks after and the opportunities to volunteer, visit stonebridgecityfarm.com