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OUR WEBSITE
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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNIES - HELP
WANTED
Our branch is run entirely by volunteers. If you have some time on your
hands and love cats, we are currently looking for additional help in
the following functions:
HANDY MAN or WOMAN
- to
mend/refurbish our cat pens. All materials will be provided by the
branch, you provide your time and expertise.
FOSTERERS - to look after and care for cats awaiting new homes
TRANSPORT - to take fosterers without transport to the vets and back
FUND-RAISERS - to help at fundraising events including Cat Homing
Shows.
If you are able to help
please contact us on 01268 285778 for
a chat about what is involved, no obligation, of course.
Alternatively you can email us on coordinator@bascats.org.uk
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| WANTED
- WORKING COLOUR LASER PRINTER FOR A FUND-RAISING PROJECT FOR THE
BRANCH. IF YOU HAVE ONE YOU CAN DONATE, PLEASE CONTACT US ON 01268
543283 OR EMAIL webmaster@bascats.org.uk. Thanks in anticipation.
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| GREAT NEWS! We
are pleased to announce that we are able to offer FREE neutering
again this year, whilst funds last. To qualify you need
to be on a means tested benefit, pension or a low income and live
in the area covered by the branch (SS11 to SS17, CM11 to CM15) and your
cat needs to be 5 months of age or older. Other conditions apply. This
offer applies to both male and female cats and to multi-cat
households. To find out more and to apply, please telephone us on 01268
543283. Please be prepared to leave a message on our answerphone. |
 About
the Basildon, Brentwood &
District Branch
The Basildon, Brentwood & District
Branch of Cats Protection was started in 1988, when it was known as the
Laindon
Branch, because most of the original members lived in the Laindon area of Essex. We later changed our name to the
Basildon & District Branch. From 2003, we also
officially covered the Brentwood
council
area, so we changed our name again to reflect the area we now cover
(Postcodes SS11 to SS17, CM11 to CM15). From a small beginning with
just 12 original members, we now have around 300 members. In common
with most Cats Protection branches, the work of the branch is carried
out by a smaller group of active members who foster the cats,
fund-raise, do follow up visits etc. We are all volunteers and none of
us gets paid to do what we do. Our branch covers a large area which
encompasses the whole of the Basildon & District Council area,
which includes Wickford
and Billericay, plus nearby Stanford-Le-Hope and Corringham, and the Brentwood
Council area which includes, Hutton, Shenfield
and Brentwood.
 In
2011, we helped over 1200 needy cats, including finding homes for nearly 500
cats and kittens. The rest were helped with free or assisted neutering (over 650 cats)
and other veterinary treatment where the need arose and funds permitted. Our costs for
fostering alone were nearly £23,000 last year and on top of that our
veterinary costs were nearly £28,000. Apart from a small annual
grant received from Cats Protection Headquarters, we have to raise the
rest of our funds locally, so we rely on local fundraising, adoption
fees and donations to survive. With fundraising, telephone and a very
small amount of admin costs we need to raise
over £75,000 each year to allow us to continue our rescue service at
its current level, which is a hard task as we are all
volunteers
with homes, families and jobs, as well as volunteering for the branch.
Ideally we would like to see our branch grow to help even more local
cats, volunteers and funds permitting. Since our branch started, we
have taken in over 10,000 cats. We sometimes wonder what would
have happened to them if we had not been here to help them.
Branch Homing
Figures for the last 5 Years
In common with most animal rescues,
adoption figures are down because adoption enquiries are declining,
which means that we have fewer spaces to take cats in , whereas
requests for cats to be taken in by the branch seem to be never ending.
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Year
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2007
|
2008
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2009
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2010
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2011
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Cats Homed
|
233
|
218
|
223
|
204
|
180
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Kittens Homed
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315
|
297
|
277
|
295
|
312
|
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Total
|
548
|
515
|
500
|
499
|
492
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 We do not have a central shelter
like some Cats Protection branches. Instead the cats which we take in
are cared for by some of our members (we call them our fosterers) in
their own homes. Some of our fosterers have specially built cat pens in
their gardens. The pens have heating in the winter and provide a snug
and warm temporary home for our rescued cats. Here is a picture of one
of our pen blocks:
At
any time we usually have over 40 cats in our foster homes which may
seem quite a lot, but on a bad week, our Homing Officer can be asked to
take in over 50 cats, so we always have a waiting list. At
peak
times of the year we can have over 100 cats in our care so we really do
need more foster homes. If you live in our area, love cats and have a
spare room,
telephone and transport and would like to find out more about
fostering, we'd love to hear from you. The Branch supplies all food,
litter and equipment and pays for all vet bills for fostered cats. You
supply the love and cuddles. All of our fosterers will tell you that it
is so rewarding to see your  foster
cat go off to it's new
home.
Many of the cats and kittens we
take in are strays, but just as many come in from homes, where the
owners have had to give up their cats for a variety of reasons
including loss of job, relationship breakdowns, allergies, financial
problems etc. Many of the strays we take in are pregnant females, who
have been heartlessly dumped when they have become pregnant, when if
they had been neutered at the appropriate time, this could have been
avoided. Our branch always runs a low cost neutering scheme (and
sometimes offers free neutering) to help less well off people to get
their cats (both male and female) neutered, so there really
is no excuse.
If you live in our area and could
give a loving home to a rescued cat or kitten, please contact our CATLINE on 01268 285778, or E-mail us at homing@bascats.org.uk.
 If you would like to volunteer to
help our branch in any way (Fund-raising, Fostering,
Follow-up Visits, transport etc), please contact our CATLINE on 01268 285778 for a chat about what is
involved, no obligation , of course.
OR
E-mail us at recruitment@bascats.org.uk
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