The Pet Foodbank Sandwell CIO - covering Sandwell and The Black Country

18/08/2026

🐾❤️ TWO YEARS AGO TODAY… IT WAS JUST AN IDEA! ❤️🐾

Facebook Memories got me today! 🥹

Two years ago today, I wrote a post about an idea I’d had…

What if there was somewhere local that could help people who were struggling financially to feed their pets? Somewhere that could provide a little short-term support and help keep much-loved pets where they belong, with their families.

And that little idea became a reality. 🐾

We started out as the West Bromwich Emergency Pet Pantry, initially just supporting pet owners in West Bromwich.

We were tiny. We had no idea how much the service would grow, how many people would need us, or quite where this journey was going to take us! 😂

As demand grew, so did we.

We became The Pet Food Bank Sandwell and surrounding areas, started reaching more clients, welcomed more volunteers, built relationships with local organisations, set up donation points and somehow kept finding space for mountains of pet food! 😂

And now, two years after that very first post, we are officially registered as The Pet Foodbank Sandwell CIO and our volunteers are supporting pet owners across most of the Black Country.❤️

When I look back at everything that has happened in those two years, it honestly feels a little crazy.

🐶 Hundreds of pets have been fed
🐱 Families have been supported through some incredibly difficult times
🚗 Our volunteers have driven countless miles delivering food parcels and collecting donations
📦 We've built up donation points across the area
🤝 We've worked alongside community organisations, food banks, charities and local businesses
❤️ And most importantly, we've helped people keep their pets fed, cared for and at home with the people who love them.

All of this started with ONE IDEA. ONE FACEBOOK POST.

I definitely didn't sit there two years ago thinking, Yep, in two years I'll be running a registered charity with volunteers driving all over the Black Country! 😂

There have been stressful days, late-night referrals, emergency parcels, fundraising days, house full of pet food, moments where stock has nearly disappeared faster than we can replace it, and probably several occasions where I've wondered what on earth I've started! 🤣

But then a message arrives from someone we've helped, or we get a photo of a very happy dog or cat with their food parcel, and I'm reminded exactly why we do it. ❤️

And none of this belongs to just one person.

It belongs to our wonderful trustees, every volunteer who has delivered a parcel. Every person who has donated a tin, bag of food or £1. Every business and organisation that has supported us. Every donation point that has collected for us. Every person who has shared one of our posts.

YOU have helped build this.

Two years ago it was just an idea typed into Facebook.

Today it's The Pet Foodbank Sandwell CIO 🐾❤️

And I cannot wait to see where we are when this memory pops up again in another two years!

Happy 2nd Birthday to our little idea that became something much bigger than I ever imagined, and very soon we will be celebrating our official opening date, i cant wait!!! 🎂🐾❤️

18/08/2026

Massive thanks to Helping Hand Community CIC who have been donating to us. Over the past few days we have recieved wet and dry dog and cat food to support our clients. Some of this will be coming home to storage whilst the rest will remain at St Albans Community Association to support their Table for All clients. Love how charities work together 😀❤️

18/08/2026

Massive thanks to Revolting Animals. who are generously donating some dry cat fod, toys and a cash donation to us. In return we are giving them some spare puppy food we have for them to pass over to a local rescue in need 😀❤️

For you The Pet Food Bank - Sandwell and The Black Country 😎🐾🐾

17/08/2026

Has anyone got any battery powered tea lights they could gift us for our fundraiser? Pretty please

17/08/2026

Found in Smethwick, someone must be missing the little guy!!!!

🐶 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗼𝗴 — 𝗕𝗼𝘄𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 / 𝗦𝘁 𝗔𝗹𝗯𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱

Could this lovely boy belong to you?

He is microchipped, and we’ve already contacted three microchip agencies, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘆𝗲𝘁.

He has paint marks on his coat, so he may have wandered off while work was being carried out at his home.

He is currently being cared for by one of our staff members, but if we still haven’t heard from his owner by tomorrow, he will be taken to a local vets, and is likely to be passed to the dog warden for transfer to the Stoke pound.

📞 If you recognise him or can help, please call: 0121 558 0018

15/08/2026

🐾❤️*A LITTLE HELP CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE ❤️🐾

While we were out fundraising today, we were approached by a lovely lady who told us about the newest addition to her family — a beautiful 8-month-old cat 🐱💕

Sadly, her original owners had decided they simply no longer wanted her. Worried about what might happen to this gorgeous girl, the lady stepped in and took her on herself. ❤️

Taking on a pet unexpectedly can be difficult, especially midway through the month when there isn't much spare money around to suddenly buy all the essentials.

So, of course, we were happy to help. 🥰

Tomorrow, one of our lovely new volunteers, Sam, will be delivering a little starter parcel containing:

🐱 Wet & dry cat food
🐾 Treats
🐱 Cat litter
🧸 A few toys

Just a few essentials to help them through until payday and make sure this beautiful girl has everything she needs while she settles into her new home. 🏡❤️

And to make today even more special, we also received a lovely thank-you message from a lady we recently supported ❤️

She had been left struggling financially after facing a large vet bill, so we were able to step in and help with food for her pets while she gets herself back on track. Receiving her message today really meant a lot to us. 🥹🐾

These are perfect examples of why The Pet Food Bank Sandwell exists. Sometimes people don't need long-term help — an unexpected vet bill, taking on a pet in an emergency or another sudden expense can leave someone short for a little while. A small amount of support at the right time can make a huge difference and, most importantly, help keep much-loved pets with the people who care about them. ❤️

A massive thank you to everyone who donated during our fundraiser today. Your donations make every one of these parcels possible.

And a big welcome and thank you to Sam for taking on tomorrow's delivery! 🚗🐾

15/08/2026

💙🐾 A MASSIVE thank you to everyone who supported us today! 🐾💙

We honestly cannot thank you enough for all the kindness we received. People stopped to chat, dropped their spare change into our collection tins, or went shopping and came back with food donations for The Pet Food Bank Sandwell.

We are completely overwhelmed by the generosity shown today. ❤️

Thanks to you, we collected:
🐶🐱 A huge amount of much-needed pet food donations
💷 £93.12 in cash donations
📄 Lots of leaflets handed out to help spread the word about the support we provide

We have to admit… fundraising is not as easy as it looks! 😂 A lot of people walked past avoiding eye contact because they thought we were trying to sell something. We promise we’re not trying to sell you anything — we’re just a small charity trying to keep local pets fed and families together. 🐾

For everyone who DID stopped, smiled, donated, chatted, or simply took a leaflet… thank you. Every single bit of support makes a difference.

Also massive thanks to Ryan who stayed all day with me even though he hates public speaking, crowds and spending days with his mom 🤣🤣 and to the wonderful Malwina Markowska for collecting us and dropping us home with all the donations.

From all of us at The Pet Food Bank Sandwell — thank you for believing in what we do. ❤️🐾

15/08/2026

People have been sooooo generous

15/08/2026

We are not that scary....honest!!!!

15/08/2026

We are here and its very windy!!!! Spending more time chasing leaflets 😪😪