Acres hosting gala with 8-course meal on Aug. 16 to raise S$400,000 for expanding wildlife rescue centre

The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society's (Acres) annual charity gala will be held on Aug. 16.

The gala is the organisation's biggest fundraising event of the year, and in 2025, they aim to raise S$400,000.

The funds will help support Acres' rescue efforts, as well as their plans to expand their wildlife rescue centre.

Expansion

Acres was initially given 2ha of land in 2009. However, the land was made unusable after it was contaminated with illegal landfill by contractors.

Currently, their wildlife rescue centre spans only 0.5ha, and houses 129 animals at the moment, including tortoises, snakes, iguanas, turtles and birds.

After some thorough tests, Acres has finally gotten approval to utilise the rest of the land.

"This means more rescues, better care, and a greater chance for native animals to return to the wild, including more turtles and tortoises being repatriated to their natural homes," Acres said.

Rescuing wildlife

To date, Acres has rehabilitated and repatriated 68 animals back to their natural habitats.

This includes a vervet monkey which was rescued from a small cage in 2004.

Blue, as the monkey was later named, was eventually sent back to a wildlife sanctuary in his native Africa.

Acres subsists entirely on public donations, and through these, is able to carry out around 260 wildlife rescues and rehabilitate 120 animals every month.

Their wildlife hotline also sees around 1,200 calls per month.

In 2025 alone, Acres has rescued around 1,600 animals.

Some prominent cases they handled include rescuing and returning a baby changeable hawk-eagle to its treetop nest, and capturing a civet stranded in a condominium unit.

In March 2025, an otter pup was also safely reunited with its family after it was stuck in a canal following a monsoon surge.

Donations

The gala will be held at One Farrer Hotel, and an eight course vegan fusion/halal dinner will be served.

Minister of State for National Development Alvin Tan will make an appearance as the guest of honour.

There will also be free flow wine, performances, a raffle draw, live auctions, a Best Dressed runway show with prizes to be won, and to top it off, a dance party.

Previously, one of the auction items was Taylor Swift's guitar.

Seats to the gala can be purchased for S$310 each here.

Ticket purchases will be matched dollar for dollar by Tote Board, and all seat and table purchases are eligible for 250 per cent tax deduction.

Donations of any amount can also be made here.

Acres is fully dependent on public donations to sustain their animal protection work.

Acres Gala 2025

Date: Aug. 16, 2025, Saturday

Time: 6pm to 11pm

Venue: One Farrer Hotel, 1 Farrer Park Station Rd, Singapore 217562, Grand Ballroom on Level 6

Dress code: Cocktail attire with a 'wild' twist

Top photo from Acres/FB