06/08/2026
Many of our followers may know we've been a rescue since 1990 and over the decades we have seen such unimaginable sadness and horrors and human neglect towards our furry friends that can never be erased from our memories.
So many hopeful and beautiful memories, too. We could literally write a book on our lives in rescue, what an amazing read it would be too. We have seen dozens of volunteers, school pupils and college students pass through our doors helping us to care for our cats and shop, all loved their time with us and we welcomed them all into our little family. We've faced hardship many times including the year we nearly lost our building and charity ,our story being focused in the local newspaper. We were time sensitive to raise funds to buy the building before the landlord sold it from beneath us at auction. We faced so much anguish those few days frantically trying to get loans or a mortgage,without success. When we nearly accepted defeat ,the most amazing thing happened to us. We had the one in a million phone call from Ron. This absolute gentleman and most kindest person offered us the funds to buy our building! Wow ,were we actually dreaming! This most unique offer saved our home but we didn't have much money to support us into the future. Then........We received the most amazing legacy and all our nightmares had materialised into the dream we all prayed for. We couldn't believe it, actually shocked us all and the newspapers wrote about us again...... but they headed the story this time....
" miracles really do happen" and yes actually it was a beautiful miracle provided by two special people.
That was a long time ago and since then we've kept going ,promising to continue our devotion for any cats or kittens that crossed our door. We have faced so much in terms of huge increasing vet costs, with just about every procedure rising and rising over the years. We have never had one single vet bill left unpaid as it's a vital part of running a rescue. Our waste disposal is £400 per month also, but essentially needed. We also have seen increasing cat food costs, utility bills and most costly of all the building work we desperately needed. We literally had to have the whole roof replaced, top windows double glazed back and front . New heavy security doors fitted ,a new shutter and the whole cellar professionaly cleared as we had a bad sewage leak ,it absolutely reaked for weeks but we managed to cover all the costs . The cellar cost us £2.5k
alone to sort out but it was essential. Then the entire extension was ripped down and rebuilt as the most expensive part. We also had to have all 3 floors of cattery space refloored and decorated plus new cat furniture to make it gorgeous for our boys and girls to be happy and settled while in our care, and we successfully achieved all this. As you can imagine we have dedicated not only love,care and compassion but also high expense to get the rescue looking it's best. Unfortunately we couldn't stretch to having any alterations to the shop but we manage just as well. You are probably wondering why I'm being so long winded and that it's 3in the morning as I'm writing this, well I'll tell you my purpose.We recently had a trustee/ staff meeting and the cold hard facts have left everyone absolutely devastated and truly broken. Animal Aid Charity will be looking at closing it's doors this year. With so much paid out and monthly vet bills, cat food at £400 a week alone, we just don't have the resources .The most frustrating part is that we are due a significant legacy soon but unfortunately a family member has contested the will and is taking it to court, delaying the payment and too late to save us. We have also been advised to seek a lawyer regards to this matter we simply don't have the funds. So after reading all this I'm thinking of starting another Gofund me to at least try to raise something until the legacy comes available, a long shot but we are at crisis point guys. Literally. We are all putting our heads together to come up with ways to raise funds so please 🙏 if you can help or offer ideas we really need a boost right now as we are pretty much feeling rubbish at the minute I'll sort the GFM over the weekend but please support us in any way possible, just message us or drop in. We've put our prices in the shop to the lowest we have ever gone so please try pop in to purchase something, we'd appreciate that so much plus we'd love to see you. So to put everything in a nutshell Animal Aid Charity will close forever sometime in the next 6 months or sooner depending on vet bills we incur. We will do anything to keep our beautiful little rescue open and we will go down fighting all the way. Look forward to hearing your thoughts on fund raising ideas or you're a millionaire with a passion for cats ! Please 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 for us all and help us continue doing what we love so much with all our proud hearts....helping those little souls no one wants or has abandoned. Thankyou for reading .Oh don't forget how much our community will miss our amazing little shop too with all it's bargains. We are trying to stay positive and in thought about raising funds but it's hard,it's taking it's toll on us all and the thought of having to find rescue space or homes for the current cats in our care is,well, just too heart destroying to contemplate so .....HELP SAVE ANIMAL AID CHARITY FROM CLOSURE.
