A charity set up in the name of an Exmouth animal welfare campaigner who died in an airplane crash has announced £44,000 worth of grants.
The Joanna Toole Foundation, which aims to continue her work in advancing the welfare of animals has awarded the funds in two tranches – emergency and project.
Exmouth woman Jo was one of the 157 passengers and crew who died when Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 crashed shortly after take-off from Addis Abada airport in March 2019.
Joanna, 36, had been living in Rome with partner Paul and working on the issue of marine debris for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Exmouth Journal: Joanna Toole, who was killed while flying from Ethiopia to Kenya.Joanna Toole, who was killed while flying from Ethiopia to Kenya. (Image: Adrian Toole)

Since Jo’s death, her family and friends, assisted by many of her professional colleagues have been working to ensure that her legacy endures and her mission continues and the Joanna Toole Foundation was set up in June this year.
The first tranche of funding – emergency grants – have been awarded to animal care organisations that have suffered a damaging decline in their fundraising due to the Covid pandemic.
These are:
• Rancho Universo Cozumel Sanctuary in Mexico
• The Flicka Foundation Donkey Sanctuary in Cornwall
• Blue Rose Ranch, in USA
• Colobus Conservation in Kenya
• Prickles and Paws Hedgehog Rescue in Cornwall
• Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust in Uganda
• Lilongwe Wildlife Centre in Malawi
• Vervet Monkey Foundation in South Africa
• British divers Marine Life Rescue
• Kilimanjaro Animal CREW in Tanzania
The second tranche of funding went to more general animal welfare projects. Grants were given to:
• Two law practices, Advocates for Animals in UK and Richman Law Group/A Well-Fed World in USA who are using legal processes to further animal welfare.
• Beach Guardian in Cornwall
• ELI Scientific
• Faunalytics in USA
• Secret World Wildlife Rescue in Somerset
Adrian Toole, Chair of the Joanna Toole Foundation said: “The purpose of setting up the Foundation is to continue my daughter Joanna’s work for animal welfare.
“It has been a long haul for all the Trustees this last year but now we are giving out grants to such good causes, I feel that we are furthering, however inadequately, Jo’s life-long mission.”