Support For Pets Annual Report April 2015 - March 2016 1
Support For Pets Every year in the UK thousands of dogs, cats, rabbits and other domestic pets end up in a rescue centre in need of a new home. Some have been neglected. Others are loved by owners who can no longer care for them. Each one is abandoned through no fault of their own. Support For Pets believes that every homeless pet deserves a second chance at happiness. Founded by Pets at Home in 2006, we are a registered charity that works closely with the business to offer granting funding, donations and unique fundraising schemes for pet rehoming organisations. Registered Charity Number 1104152 2
Our Objectives To ease the heavy costs of rescuing pets Invest in rehoming programmes and rescue centres Rehome small pets through our own adoption centres Raise awareness for local rescue centres and rescue pets Encourage responsible pet ownership Improve the public s perception of rescue pets Our Achievements Over 1million donated through our Grant Programme Partnership Scheme between local rescues and Pets at Home stores 400 adoption centres for small pets Administered stock donations from Pets at Home 1000+ rescues supported by the charity in total 3
Introduction Thanks to the incredible generosity of our supporters, Support For Pets is proud to donate more funds than ever before to the care and rehoming of abandoned pets in the UK. Over the last ten years the work that we do has grown enormously. When the charity was founded by Pets at Home in 2006, we were proud to raise over 37,000 to help pets in need. Between April 2015 and March 2016 we raised over 3,600,000 funds which we donated through our schemes and initiatives to have a direct impact on rescue pet welfare. Throughout the year Pets at Home continued to provide a vital lifeline of support and fundraising income for our charity through the kindness of customers and the dedication of the store colleagues. We remain committed to distributing these funds across the country providing much needed support for rehoming centres and the people who dedicate themselves to pet rescue. As we celebrate our milestone 10th birthday, we look forward to taking the work of the charity even further. Thank you to everyone who has made this possible. Louise Stonier Chair of Trustees Louise Stonier and Skye 4
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Local Support Scotland 147,635 over 48 donations Appeal donations (38)... 87,735 Grant (10)... 59,900 34 Centres Northern Ireland 48,617 over 11 donations Appeal donations (9)... 18,017 Grant (2)... 30,600 10 Centres South West 213,756 over 65 donations Appeal donations (44)... 67,718 Grant (21)... 146,038 43 Centres Wales 67,092 over 31 donations Appeal donations (23)... 26,592 Grant (8)... 40,500 25 Centres 6
South East 318,910 over 86 donations Appeal donations (65)... 149,210 Grant (21)... 169,700 65 Centres East of England 139,117 over 62 donations Appeal donations (52)... 27,010 Grant (10)... 39,500 45 Centres Yorkshire and Humber 199,379 over 57 donations Appeal donations (44)... 68,594 Grant (13)... 130,785 39 Centres North West 304,912 over 68 donations Appeal donations (48)... 79,172 Grant (20)... 225,740 49 Centres North East 37,447 over 23 donations Appeal donations (21)... 26,947 Grant (2)... 10,500 17 Centres East Midlands 89,873 over 35 donations Appeal donations (30)... 50,809 Grant (5)... 39,064 32 Centres Greater London 66,510 over 18 donations Appeal donations (12)... 27,010 Grant (6)... 39,500 West Midlands 173,223 over 45 donations Appeal donations (32)... 48,938 Grant (13)... 124,285 20 Centres 35 Centres 7
Grant Funding 20,000 to the Cat + Rabbit Rescue Centre One of the biggest charitable initiatives that Support For Pets operates is our extensive Grant Programme. In 2015/16 we awarded over 1million in grant funding to over 100 rehoming organisations. Our trustees award grants to support rescues in a variety of ways including helping with the costs of vet bills, boarding, specialist transportation vehicles and large scale capital projects. We are proud to work with the smallest back-garden rescues and some of the largest national pet charities all over the UK, aiming with every donation to have maximum impact on animal welfare and rehoming. 118,950 to provide 13 pet transportation vans 514,213 to help with running costs, including vet bills and kennel costs 428,099 to help with building costs, investing in rescue centres 8
Case Studies Shropshire Street Cats 2,200 grant towards vet bills in November 2015 In Autumn 2015 Shropshire Street Cats applied for a grant to help with the costs of their vet bills. Our Grant Funding Co-ordinator Laura visited the rescue to see the work that they do (and to fuss over some of the cats in their care!) and the trustees were impressed with what they have achieved in just two years since they were established. We were delighted to award them 2,200 to help them support cats like Joy and her kittens. Greyhound Gap 15,000 grant to replace kennel flooring In January 2016 we awarded 15,000 to Greyhound Gap in Staffordshire to resurface their kennel floors which were in serious need of improvement. The new surfaces have made life much nicer for the dogs in their care they are more hygienic, practical and because they are quick drying and easier to clean, they will give volunteers more time for training and having fun with the hounds. 9
Fundraising The charity s income comes largely from the generosity of Pets at Home customers, facilitated by the incredible support of the business and its employees. In 2015/16 we ran two major fundraising events across all stores. Between April and May 2015 our Make Me Smile campaign sold over 400,000 raffle tickets nationwide, raising 470,075 for the charity. Our biggest appeal was Santa Paws. Throughout December customers were invited to donate 50p to help feed a pet in rescue. This simple message inspired the public and a total of 1.5million dinners were donated, raising a massive 771,500. The charity also generates funds from the sale of charity merchandise (including charity bags and trolley coins), lottery initiatives, round up to a pound schemes, donations from pets rehomed through our adoption centres and sponsored fundraising activities such as charity fun runs. 10
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The Partnership Scheme Support For Pets offers rescue centres the opportunity to partner with their local Pets at Home store. This year we facilitated over 500 working partnerships with many store teams and rescue volunteers working together on a regular basis to promote the work of the rescue within the community, highlight pets in need of new homes and to raise valuable funds. Partnered rescues are also eligible to take part in Support For Pets Fundraising Appeals - receiving donations for fundraising with their local store as part of the events. 12
Case Study RAIN (Rescued Animals In Need) partnered with Pets at Home Sevenoaks RAIN rescue centre in Sevenoaks, Kent, has supported and rehomed dogs, cats, rabbits and other pets for almost 40 years. They have a very close relationship with their partnered Pets at Home store in Sevenoaks and throughout the year volunteers have enjoyed many fundraising events in store to build awareness and raise funds for the rescue within the local community. The partnership offers them shared access to the food donation bins in store and a chance to bring in rescue pets in need of a home to meet with the public. The rescue was delighted to be nominated by the Sevenoaks team to take part in the Santa Paws Christmas Appeal. Volunteer Deborah and her team held ongoing fundraising activities throughout December including Lucky Dips (for children AND grown-ups!), Name-The-Bears, adopt a cuddly rescue dog and guess the weight of the Christmas Cake. They also hosted a Party Weekend in the run up to Christmas when Santa came to visit the store! They found that the fundraising appeal boosted their rehoming enquiries as well as providing much needed financial support. In the January the store team proudly presented them with a cheque from Support For Pets for 2,223.82! 13
Centres This year a series of Pets at Home store refurbishments saw us reach 400 Support For Pets adoption centres in stores across the UK, providing care to thousands of rabbits, guinea pigs, degus, chinchillas, gerbils, hamsters and rats until we were able to find them a loving forever home. All the pets in our adoption centre are cared for by Pets at Home colleagues, with the charity covering the costs of any veterinary treatment required to ensure the pets are healthy and ready to be rehomed. Each pet leaves our adoption centre with a voucher for a free health check at Vets4Pets or Companion Care veterinary practices and our microchipped rabbits also come with free neutering and vaccination vouchers to help them on their way. spent on rabbit neutering bills 14
Case Studies Sydenham Centre In December 2015 we were delighted to open our biggest adoption centre to date, inside the Pets at Home Sydenham store. This dedicated adoption space includes extra-large pet units and can accommodate more animals as well as providing more in depth information about the work of the charity and pets in need of a home. Within the first nine months this adoption centre found loving homes for 280 small pets. Hitch the Guinea Pig In August 2015 an extraordinary baby guinea pig named Hitch ended up in our adoption centre inside Pets at Home Newark. She was brought in by a member of the public who discovered her in a bag of hay bought the previous day in a farm shop in Kent! Remarkably, she had travelled over 150 miles but she was unharmed and completely unphased by her epic journey! It remains a mystery how she managed to get into the bag of hay, or the shop, as she was very young and weighed just 175g the same as a Terry s Chocolate Orange! A search went out to try to track down her owners in Kent but when none came forward she was adopted by a new family who fell in love with her. She settled in really well and now lives happily ever after with her new guinea pig friends. 15
Donated Stock Support For Pets also administers Pets at Home s Donated Stock Scheme by distributing pallets of stock which cannot be sold in store to local rescue centres. This provides another lifeline of support through generous donations of food, litter and other items. Donated Stock Scheme 16
The Trustees Trustees are appointed for a term of two years and must be re-elected by the Trustee board at the end of this term. Brian Hudspith (appointed 22nd July 2015) Dan Laurence (appointed 29th February 2016) Rehman Minshall (appointed 15th February 2016) George Lingwood Jill Naylor Daniel Cornwell Ryan Cheyne (resigned 18th June 2015) Alison Cannon (resigned 15th April 2016) Louise Stonier Chair of Trustees Tanya Crawley (resigned 9th February 2016) Nigel Freelove (resigned 9th February 2016) Phil Hackney (resigned 4th January 2016) Sally Hopson (resigned 4th January 2016) Mike Marshall (resigned 15th April 2016) Bryan Shutes (appointed 22nd July 2015) Kathy Toft (resigned 6th May 2015) Fran Whittle (resigned 6th January 2016) 17
Get In Touch To find out more about Support For Pets, the schemes we offer and the rescues we support, please visit www.supportadoptionforpets.co.uk 2,997,701 website page views Contact the trustees or the charity team on: info@supportadoptionforpets.co.uk Registered Address: Support For Pets, c/o Pets at Home, Epsom Avenue, Stanley Green Trading Estate, Handforth, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 3RN Follow us on social media: 18 55,743 social media followers
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20 Our work is only possible thanks to the kind generosity of our supporters. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated to our charity.