Fabulous Bargains, Furry Friends & Future Plans

Turning of the Season

It’s October already, did September have somewhere to be? The darker nights are creeping in, and we are already planning our Halloween-themed shop front window for the hub.

Fabulous Bargains

Speaking of which, have you popped into our shop in Chester-le-Street yet? Feedback from our visitors so far has been amazing, so thank you so much.?

Our shop has everything from ladies fashion, and accessories, to menswear, bric-a-brac, small furniture, kids clothes, toys, crafts, books, DVDs and pet accessories. There are some gorgeous bargains to be found, so pop by soon and say hello.

Oooh - and keep your eyes peeled for our shop loyalty cards - coming soon!

Furry Friends

Did you know that our charity shop location is also your local RSPCA branch community hub? We operate a pet food bank from the offices and events space upstairs, where we also provide animal welfare support and signposting, education resources for kids, and more.

To help keep our furry (and non-furry) pet friends happy and healthy, we operate a pet neutering and microchipping voucher scheme all year round. The scheme offers financial assistance towards the cost of neutering and microchipping for eligible applicants. Ts & Cs apply, and you can find out more on our website, here.?

Our pet food bank service has been operating since April this year, with both grants and local donations supporting us to provide food and accessories to pets in need. If you are interested in learning more about the pet food bank service, and what may be available to you or someone you know, if you are struggling to keep up with the costs of pet food, you can apply for help, here. #petfoodbank

We recently attended an RSPCA National Pet Food Bank Partnership event, Community Paws in Pennywell, Sunderland, where we teamed up with some of the National team and local vets to chat to local pet owners, offer free pet health-checks, goodie bags and vouchers. As your local branch, it means the world to us when we get an opportunity to chat with you, get to know you and your animals, and raise more awareness about what we do. So, to all those who attended - thank you! It was great to see you there.

Future plans

As we grow the community hub, we really hope to host more events and welfare outreach across our branch areas of Sunderland, Hartlepool & South Tyneside. And we have some plans brewing behind the scenes, including cat microchipping events, coffee mornings, craft events, pet welfare drop-in events, and more. We’re counting down to announcements soon.

We’re not quite ready to blast off just yet, but watch this space! And, if any of the above sounds like something you’d like to support, either as a donor or volunteer, we want to hear from you!

Did you know you can become a branch member for only ￡24 per year? Click here to find out more.

And when it comes to volunteering, we have plenty of opportunities available. Pop us an email and let us know your interests, and let’s chat about how you can get involved: [email protected]

And, as ever, thank you SO much to all of our supporters, volunteers, staff, frontline teams, vets, and wonderful community members that help us to keep working hard to support local animals in need.

You’re amazing!