Bredhurst charity volunteer Katie Carey will need her wits about her when she spends a spooky night locked in with cats on Halloween (31 October).
The spooky sleepover at Cats Protection’s Bredhurst Adoption Centre is the launch of Katie’s fundraising campaign, which will culminate in next year’s Nepal Trek and Tiger Conservation Experience to help care for more cats in Kent.
Katie said: “A cat makes a house a home and I’ve lived with cats all my life. There is a cat suitable for any home and Cats Protection is always there to help.
“I’ve been a volunteer and fundraiser for several years and I know how important their work is for cats and their owners. Meeting big cats in their natural habitat will be amazing and I hope to raise awareness of the charity’s work by sharing my experiences through Facebook Live.”
Katie will also be presenting Bredhurst’s Virtual Christmas Fair (Sunday, 13 December) to raise even more funds for the adoption centre. https://www.facebook.com/CPBredhurst
Covid-19 restrictions hit the national charity’s major fundraising activities and the Bredhurst Adoption Centre saw many local events cancelled.
Although the centre remains closed to the public, work goes on behind closed doors and the team has homed 300 cats by the charity’s Hands-Free Homing process. This all comes at a cost.
Marie Emmett, Cats Protection’s South Eastern Volunteer Team Leader, said: “It’s been a tough year but our dedicated team is making all the difference to the challenges we face on a daily basis.
“Volunteers are naturally kind hearted but I never cease to be amazed by their commitment to caring and fundraising for cats and the community. I don’t know where we’d be without them.”
To sponsor Katie, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/katie-careynepaltrek
Night owls can follow Katie’s progress on Facebook Live and see more about activities at the centre at https://www.facebook.com/CPBredhurst/
Cats Protection is marking the tenth anniversary of its Black Cat Day (27 October). Black and black-and-white cats are no longer overlooked as they once were and now spend 11 days less on average in care before being rehomed. Around 65,000 black or black-and-white cats have been homed through Cats Protection’s centres since the campaign started in 2010, which is 44% of all cats homed by the charity.
Cats Protection explored why black cats were less popular and worked to buck the rehoming trend. Among the ideas challenged have been that black cats are seen as unlucky, associated with the supernatural or are not photogenic. Read more at www.cats.org.uk/black-cats
