A SOMERSET animal rescue centre has been awarded over £5,000 by the Gannett Foundation after it received 239 votes in the Cash for Charity campaign.
Jenny Green, chair of St Giles Animal Rescue, said the donation is “like winning the lottery” for the Wrantage-based charity.
The charity aims to relieve the suffering of animals, particularly dogs and cats, that need care and attention. It operates rescue centres and helps find new homes for rescued, abandoned or otherwise homeless animals.
The money comes from the Gannett Foundation, the charitable arm of the parent company of Newsquest – publisher of the County Gazette, Bridgwater Mercury, Chard and Ilminster News, and Burnham and Highbridge Weekly News.
The Gannett Foundation provided £125,000 to support local charities across the UK, £20,000 of which was allocated to charities in Wales and the south west.
St Giles Animal Rescue and Chard and District Museum were nominated by readers along with six other charities from the region.
Readers were invited to collect tokens from our newspapers to send to collection points or post to us. The tokens were used to allocate cash to each nominated charity.
St Giles Animal Rescue received 27.04 per cent of the vote share in Wales and the south west, giving the charity a total donation of £5,407.24.
Jenny, who was introduced to St Giles when she rescued a pug puppy from the centre after moving to Somerset from Oxfordshire, said: “That sort of money is like winning the lottery. Times are tough and, with our big events cancelled in lockdown, it was scary.
“It’s an absolute lifesaver and a fantastic amount of money. It means the world to us, and we are grateful for it. For everyone involved, it really helps lift our spirits.”
She said the charity has received fantastic support from the community over a challenging two years but has continued to find money hard to come by, despite Covid restrictions easing earlier this year.
“As things have opened up, people have spent money on all the things they were missing out on during lockdown,” said Jenny.
“We were brilliantly supported during lockdown, but it’s almost ironic that since things have opened up again, it’s almost been harder to keep that momentum going.”
The money will help St Giles pay its utility costs, such as heating bills for its animal pens and kennels, which increase in winter months. The donation will also help cover vet bills for newly adopted animals, including vaccinations and neutering.
The charity is also planning to open an educational facility that will be used to teach young adults with special educational needs or physical and mental disabilities and schoolchildren about their work and introduce them to some of its animals.
This will help show people who may not otherwise get the opportunity to interact with animals how to care for them.
Jenny added: “Like all other charities, we have lost out on our big events like our dog show and attending the Somerset County Show. We have relied a lot this year on grant applications, and that’s not always easy.”
St Giles Animal Rescue would like to thank its supporters, anyone who voted for them, and the Gannett Foundation.
Another local charity, Chard Museum, received £4,819.00 from the Gannett Foundation after securing 24.1 per cent of the vote share.
The museum plans to use the money to fulfil its vision of a ‘museum without walls’, which will help bring the museum to the local community and help them access its facilities remotely and virtually.
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