It was in the savagely bitter winter of 1983 that the story of abandoned, starving and neglected horses on Rainham Marshes hit the national newspapers and television screens. Watching in horror from her home in Goodmayes, Ilford, Paula Clark, a doctors receptionist, knew she had to do something.

"Fifteen of them had already died from exposure and hunger and I just couldn't ignore the plight of the others without doing something to help" she recalls.

Paula recruited husband Ernie, an engineer, and they launched a publicity campaign that enabled them to pay for the stabling and feeding of the horses for the remainder of that winter.

With the same determination, they have continued to provide for sick, abandoned and neglected animals to this day. They were given a tiny plot of land in North Benfleet to establish their first sanctuary. Paula gave up her job and Ernie took early retirement.

The sanctuary is now in Brentwood on land owned by Tesco. Paula and Ernie are very grateful to Tesco for allowing Hopefield to use the land. Hopefield is now home to about 200 horses, ponies, donkeys, goats, pigs, sheep, cows and chickens. Financing the operation continues to be a problem and they need all the help they can get.