Submitted by Steve on 13:43, 30th Apr, 2020 | 0

The Association of Dogs and Cats Home (ADCH) has launched an Emergency Fund for animal rescues across the British Isles, to help them continue their vital work during the coronavirus outbreak.

This comes in response to a survey of rescue and rehoming organisations by ADCH, the sector umbrella body for companion animal rescue organisations, which revealed:

• 100% said their income had reduced;

• 61% said they have reduced staff numbers (the majority through furloughing);

• 55% said that fundraising income had already reduced by over 50%;

• Just 52% of members said they had three months of income and reserves remaining, whilst 32% had less than three months, and some significantly less than this. Yet none have shut their doors – they are still carrying out their vital work every day.

Claire Horton, ADCH Chairman, said: “There are over 1,200 animal rescue and rehoming centres throughout the UK, doing their very best to care for hundreds of thousands of unwanted and abandoned animals each year.”

“Their closure or reduction in capacity would be catastrophic for animal in need but the results of the ADCH survey paint a very worrying picture.”

“There has been no let-up in the number of animals these rescues care for, yet their income streams have all but dried up due to cancelled fundraising activities and closure of charity shops.”

“This is an emergency – the very survival of some of these rescues is at stake.”

“The ADCH Coronavirus Emergency Fund is here to provide aid to rescues in immediate crisis and support to others further down the line.”

The funds will provide one-off grants of up to £10,000 to cover activities directly affected by coronavirus. Grants will be prioritised for organisations with an annual turnover of £500,000 or less and will help support the cost of food, bedding, cleaning equipment and transportation of animals, as well as additional staff costs as a result of staff and volunteers not being able to attend the rescue or shelter.

Claire Horton adds: “Wide-scale pet abandonment could be one big consequence of the coronavirus pandemic if owners struggle to care for their pets financially or can’t cope with them after lockdown.”

“We hope this fund will prevent animal rescue centres from being forced to close their gates and therefore safeguard the welfare of those animals in most urgent need.”

Any corporations or members of the public who wish to donate to the ADCH Coronavirus Emergency Fund can visit https://www.adch.org.uk/donate/

Steve Byrne GSPCA Manager and ADCH Trustee said “The ADCH is such a supportive sector member umbrella organisation and has been bringing dog and cat charities together since 1985.”

“There are 150 members of the ADCH but the ADCH Coronavirus Emergency Fund is to help support animal charities in real need across the British Isles at this extremely difficult time.”

“So many charities like ourselves rely on fund raising, charity shops and events to find the money to survive each month.”

“With the Covid-19 restrictions in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Northern and Southern Ireland we have all faced challenges we could never have thought would be anything other than in a film.”

“The support for the ADCH Coronavirus Emergency Fund will really help animal charities that will not survive this crisis without the kind donations the ADCH has received and you can still donate to this amazing fund https://www.adch.org.uk/donate/ .”

“The GSPCA launched our own #GSPCACoronavirusCrisisAppeal in Guernsey and we cannot thank everyone enough for all of their amazing support and donations from those that called us on 257261, sent in by post or online via our web page https://giving.gg/donate/event/5876/GSPCA-Coronavirus-Emergency-Appeal .”

“Next week we should have been attending the ADCH Annual Conference which would have had over 500 in attendance and has grown over the years to the largest animal welfare sector meeting in the British Isles.”

“Last year at the conference from over 7,000 nominees one of our GSPCA team Beckie Bailey won the Employee of the Year ADCH and Petplan Award and it is very sad not only that this amazing event will not be taking place, but also that so many good friends running animal charities are struggling to survive and will not be coming together to share their experience, exchange ideas and learn from leading experts.”

 To visit the ADCH website please go to www.adch.org.uk  

In line with States of Guernsey advice please DO NOT visit the GSPCA if you are over 65, have an underlying health condition or have any symptoms of Coronavirus and only visit us if your visit is essential but before doing so please call us on 01481 257261 or email [email protected] before your trip to the GSPCA to see if we can help without you coming to the Shelter. For the latest information and advice please visit http://www.gspca.org.gg/search/node/coronavirus

With huge challenges on our resources and a drop in income from boarding and donations please help us help animals in Guernsey with our #GSPCACoronavirusCrisisAppeal by donating online via - https://giving.gg/donate/event/5876/GSPCA-Coronavirus-Emergency-Appeal

During these difficult times help us help animals in need. From donating to Sponsoring a Pen, Buying a Brick for the much needed Wildlife Hospital to our Amazon and main page Wish List, holding a mufti day to a sponsored Christmas dip, here are some of the ways you could help give animals joy.

For lots more ideas on how you can support the shelter and the animals in our care then please visit our fundraising page www.gspca.org.gg/fundraising

To see a list of our volunteer induction evenings which we hold each month and for more information please visit http://gspca.org.gg/about/volunteers or call 257261

To find out more on trips, talks and our education work please email [email protected] or call 01481 257261

 

 

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