Charity of the Month ~ Cats Protection
Bedford, Biggleswade & District Cats Protection
About Us
The Branch was founded in 1992 with a membership of just 12, but this has grown steadily and now stands at nearly 200 people. The Branch is based in Bedfordshire, approximately 50 miles north of London, although part of its area of operations is in Hertfordshire. The area covered is defined by postcodes MK40 - MK45 and SG15 - SG18. Major towns in the Branch’s area include Bedford, Ampthill, Flitwick, Shefford, Sandy and Biggleswade. Branch activities include rehoming more than 200 cats a year; running a trap, neuter and release service for feral cats, promoting neutering and offering support and advice to people with cat-related problems. We are a volunteer based branch and most of our members hold down full time jobs as well as doing vast amounts of cat work in their free time. In 2009 we took into care over 120 cats, an increase of 30% from 2008 and helped neuter 226 cats, an increase of 17% from 2008. Without the support of our volunteers and members we would not have been able to do this. Cats Protection’s philosophy is to never euthanize a cat, except on medical grounds based on veterinary opinion.
Contact our Branch:
You can call our helpline on 08702 496911 between 9am and 5pm seven days a week or email us at enquiries@bedfordcatsprotection.org.uk or visit our website at www.bedfordcatsprotection.org.uk
How can you help
The branch is funded by money raised by our volunteers, members and at our shop. As we are all volunteers the money goes straight back to the cats.
Why not become a member? Annual membership is £3 for under 16’s or concessions, £7 for single membership or £10 for family membership. Being a member means not only will you be helping our cats, but you will also receive a copy of our quarterly magazine ‘The Catalyst’
Sponsor a Pen – Pen sponsorship starts from as little as £15 a year and each quarter you will receive a newsletter telling you about the cats we have helped. Why not give this as a gift to someone, it makes the perfect gift for a cat lover who is unable to have a cat themselves.
Support our shop - 12 The Springfield Centre, Orchard Street, off Elstow Road, Kempston, Bedford MK42 7PR Open daily, Mon-Sat. Stocks Cats Protection catalogue goods, and lots more. Free parking. (Tel: 01243 840827) Our shop relies on your donations so please help us raise funds by donating your unwanted goods.
We can recycle used ink cartridges and mobile phones to raise money to help the cats in our care. Please call the helpline on 08442 496911, or email us to find out where you can send them or where your nearest drop-off point is – or why not visit our charity shop where they can be left.
Donate some cat food or litter – we always grateful with help feeding the cats in our care and we also support some stray and feral cats by supplying food to people willing to feed them. Please call or email us to find out where this can be donated.
Support our events - Visit our website to find out the latest events we will be attending
Or perhaps you could hold an event yourself to raise funds on our behalf. We are always happy to hear from anyone who has any fundraising ideas or would be keen to get involved and help at our fundraising events.
Adopt a cat – If you think you may like to adopt from us, the first stage is for us to arrange for one of our homecheckers to come and meet you and your family, it is important we find the right cat to fit in with your home, family and lifestyle. We also have homing guidelines that need to be followed when finding you a cat and we need to complete some paperwork. This also gives you the opportunity to ask any questions you may have. Once a successful homecheck has been completed we can then give you details of any suitable cats we may have available and arrange for you to meet them and hopefully find one you like. The cats we have available for homing changes almost daily so we can never really confirm what will be available until a successful homecheck has been completed and then we can give you the details of what we currently have.
Contact us on 08442 496911 or at enquiries@bedfordcatsprotection.org.uk
Some of the cats we have looking for new homes appear on our website so perhaps have a look and see if your new member of the family is on there waiting?
We are often looking for outdoor homes for working cats on farms, stables and smallholdings. In return for regular meals, they can offer a very effective and safe method of vermin control, especially around animal feed. We generally like to home at least two of these cats together as they are more likely to stay where they are placed if they have company. These working cats tend to have been born outside or lived as strays for quite some time, and are not happy with a lot of human contact or being confined in a domestic situation. They are much happier living outside, where they can enjoy their freedom but receive regular food, water and have a dry barn or stable where they can sleep. Could this be with you?
Volunteer – We are always looking for more volunteers, maybe you could help us on the phones, volunteer in the shop or become a homechecker. Call us on 08442 496911 for a chat about what you can do to help us and the cats.
