We are a small group of volunteers who are dedicated to giving practical support to our resident veterinary practice and aiming to significantly improve the surgery facilities and equipment.

Before the arrival in 2007 of Dr. Heike Dorn, our present vet, animal owners on Scilly spent several anxious months without a resident vet. This highlighted to many of us that taking on the islands veterinary practice was by no means an attractive proposition.

Finance was the key issue. There just simply wasn't enough regular business to maintain a normal small veterinary practice. The small, poorly equipped surgery had little appeal as far as prospective vets were concerned. Fortunately Heike was audacious and optimistic enough to take on the risks for all the good things that life on Scilly offers. The I.O.S.V.S.G. was set up soon after Heike's arrival .The group was determined to make sure that the islands were never without a vet again.

Our main purpose is to raise money to purchase and maintain better equipment and surgery facilities, so that the practice can take on a wider range of services independently. This meets the dual aims of making the practice sustainable, and providing the best possible care for the animal populations of the islands.

The headline project over the last 18 months has been the securing not only of planning permission for a new veterinary surgery, but also securing the grant from the Rural Development Agency. Both have been achieved, and the brand new purpose built surgery with accomodation for the incumbent vet has now been completed.