A Stretford animal charity has signed up to a nationwide Christmas fundraising campaign in order to keep donations coming in over the festive period.
The Society for Abandoned Animals (SAA) care for and rehome cats, dogs and rabbits across Manchester.
They have signed up to the ‘easyfundraising’ scheme which allows shoppers to donate simply by doing their Christmas shopping.
By shopping via easyfundraising.org.uk, shoppers can select a cause and retailers such as John Lewis, Amazon and ASOS who will make a donation at no expense to the customer.
“Every little helps with running the sanctuary,” said Ruth Hastie, who is in charge of fundraising at SAA.
“We are always one bill away from having to close down a pen, and this year we did have to close some because we just did not have the funding.
“Winter costs are higher, so donating does matter more over Christmas. People either don’t realise or forget that there are small sanctuaries out there that need help.
“The money will help with general running costs. We rely heavily on volunteers, as we get five or six calls each day about rehoming animals – nothing really changes at Christmas.
“It gets busier in February when people have got a bit bored with animals they might have got for Christmas, but the message of ‘a pet is for life, not just for Christmas’ has sunk in to a certain extent.”
The charity started in the 1960s following the displacement of animals due to the Hulme housing clearance, and has rehoused over 1500 animals over the past five years.
To date, the charity has received almost £800 in donations through the easyfundraising website, from 96 different supporters.
Easyfundraising has almost 3,000 retail members who support over 55,000 causes and have raised £10 million so far.
Image courtesy of DaPuglet, with thanks.
