Volunteers Matter - December 2016

Volunteers Matter Official Volunteer Newsletter

And they lived happily ever after...

Travelling Europe with her mummy. Phoebe, the adventurer! (see page 10)

December 2016

About this newsletter Letter from the Editor Hello everyone,

grab a tissue!

Where has the year gone? I usually start thinking about New Year resolutions I will not be sticking to by the end of January. Don’t get me wrong, I will try them and do my best to stick with them, but when there is chocolate involved… goodbye, diet. I will see you again next year.

I wanted to thank all the volunteers for being amazing this year and those who have been with us for many years before. Without your hard work and dedication, we would not have been able to rescue and rehome all the animals that were brought into our care. So, do I wonder if I am the only one who leaves me a favour and pat yourself on the back for Christmas present shopping to the very last being an amazing human being! minute. It has become my personal tradition Last but not least, a big thank you to everyin a way. I rush over to the stores to find good buys for my loved ones. I actually end up sav- one for their submissions. It’s great to see you ing quite a bit of money this way. However, in all sharing your stories and pictures. Here’s to terms of decorating the house, I have got to a fantastic 2017 and many more of those subbe the first. I start planning and decorating missions! The next Volunteers Matter will be just after Halloween. By the end of Novemwith you in early February. ber, all my decorations are up and I can watch my cats bring them down simultane- Wishing you all a great Christmas & Happy ously.

New Year!

Contents: Does your cat like climbing up the tree too? I Much love, await to see my friends posting pictures of  Can we hear your their cats and their antics on Facebook over Bonita Bennett voice? the next month or so. Did you know that  Christmas Party!

Volunteer Editor Wood Green can offer specialist pet advice,  Opportunity to... support and guidance?

Visit:  Supporting Wood Green www.woodgreen.org.uk/pet_advice for more  Small & Field Animals info!  Heydon

Once again, we have received a great number of articles from everyone. I still feel a knot in my throat when I think of Phoebe. I am so pleased and grateful to her parents for giving her the life she deserves. After 188 days with us, she finally found her forever home. And what a home it is! Hop over to Doggie updates to see her adventures so far. Oh, and

Our vision is of a world where all pets are well cared for in loving homes for life.

 London  Doggie Updates  Meow News  On the Hoof!  Volunteer Opportunities  Mission Statement

Can we hear your voice?

Do you feel you have enough information as a volunteer? Is there any way we can improve communication? What are the most effective ways of communication with you?

This simple online survey is your opportunity to let us know.

Have your say by 23rd December, visit: https://goo.gl/forms/SPglMlAp6N0w1dfr1 As you may know we are seeking to improve communication and engagement with you, and all of our volunteers, we have some ideas about how communication might be improved but we really need you thoughts and ideas. We have therefore put together a short questionnaire to enable you to let us know what you think.

It would be great if you could complete it by Friday 23rd December, by visiting: https:// goo.gl/forms/SPglMlAp6N0w1dfr1. Many thanks and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

- Caroline Underwood, Consultation Project Volunteer

Update on plans The proposed Volunteer Forum is not currently being taken forward as we are looking at Volunteer Communications more widely, which is why we are running the survey above.

There is no update on Wood Green’s proposed plans which were summarised in October’s Volunteers Matters. We’ll be able to update you further in the new year about the next steps the Charity plans to take and give responses to the questions, idea and feedback you’ve shared already.

Our vision is of a world where all pets are well cared for in loving homes for life.

Christmas Party!

Are you ready to party?

Join the discussion on Facebook If you are not already a member of the Secret Wood Green Facebook Group please contact sarah.etherington@woodgreen.org.uk, with the email address you use for Facebook and she will add you.

Our vision is of a world where all pets are well cared for in loving homes for life.

Opportunity to...

Attend our rescheduled Dog Law Seminar We re-booked the Dog Law Seminar for 4.30 – 6.30pm on Thursday 26th January 2017. It will take place in the Learning Centre Classrooms at our Godmanchester Centre. Spaces are limited so please contact Dawn Cox on ext. 1283 or email dawn.cox@woodgreen.org.uk to book your seat ASAP. Trevor Cooper presents a 2 hour seminar for volunteers and staff at dog rescue centres to bring you up to date on the law on dogs. Topics include: Microchipping Ownership disputes Stray dogs Dangerous dogs Damages claims http://doglaw.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Doglaw-for-Rescues.pdf

Share a huge thank you!

We had well over 100 volunteers come to our Volunteers' Coffee Afternoon at the Christmas Extravaganza on Sunday 27th November from as far a field as North London. If you weren't able to make, I want to share a huge THANK YOU for all that you've assisted Wood Green in achieving this year - you’ll see what that means in the sections of this edition of Volunteers Matter.

- Daniel Ingram, Volunteering & Training Manager

Our vision is of a world where all pets are well cared for in loving homes for life.

Supporting Wood Green Do you want to shop and volunteer at the same time?

We are currently partnered with Pets at Home's Stevenage and Huntingdon stores for the Santa Paws fundraising campaign. Partnering up with Pets at Home stores means that Wood Green receives vouchers which can be spent in store and during their fundraising campaign, Wood Green receives 50% of any fundraising income raised.

We are going to be in store on the following dates to talk to the public about the work we do. Can you join us to share your experience of volunteering at Wood Green?

Stevenage: Saturday 17th December or Sunday 18th December Huntingdon: Saturday 17th December or Saturday 24th December

Simply contact Kemi by emailing her at kemi.gannon@woodgreen.org.uk

You (and your four legged friend) could take the opportunity to meet a variety of animal lovers while representing Wood Green. Your support would be AMAZING!

Our vision is of a world where all pets are well cared for in loving homes for life.

Small & Field Animals Over the last month on small animals and field section, we have had many animals come in and many go to new homes. We have seen the arrival of our new resident horse Fleetwood (on loan from Redwings) to keep Bilbo company. Fleetwood is still finding his feet at the charity but he is settling in well and has now been successful mixed with Bilbo. Fleetwood is pretty much the splitting image of Bilbo. See for yourselves with the pictures below.

Over on small animals, something very unheard of happened a few weeks back. They witnessed the last two remaining ferrets on site be rehomed!!! Masiy and Memphis successfully mixed with a customer’s ferret. So, for a few weeks the team was without any ferrets on site to keep them entertained. Of Bilbo

Fleetwood

course this didn’t last for long and last week we had the arrival of two new single ferrets Snowy and Bayley.

This month the teams and I would like to give a warm welcome to the new

volunteers on Field section. We really hope you enjoy your volunteering time with us. We would also like to say goodbye and good luck to Mike (Field Section Volunteer) who has been with us for the last 15 months. He

STAR OF THE MONTH

will be hugely missed. Thank You for all you hard work and dedication to

Memphis

the section.

- Rachel Rowe, Field & Small Animals Volunteer Coordinator

Snowy

Bayley

Fudge and Nibbles in their new home.

Our vision is of a world where all pets are well cared for in loving homes for life.

Heydon Rehoming figures: On the weekend of November 19th and 20th a massive 19 cats and kittens got rehomed. 60 cats have found homes this year in total! Our small animals team have also had a good November with four chickens, eight Guinea Pigs and five Rabbits rehomed.

Pierre

Onyx

This would not of been possible without all of our wonderful volunteers so thank you!

Fostering: Little Miss was brought in as a pregnant stray, she found a foster home with one of our long term volunteers Sue Guilbert. Sue has had her for over a month now and finally she gave birth to 5 little ones. We’ve had a lot of under socialised kittens recently in need of TLC, thankfully many found a lovely foster home. A lot of hours, patience and effort has been put into these little ones. All are doing well thanks to the on-site volunteers and fosterers.

Little Miss

Heydon’s Christmas Gala:

Pinot

Although it was less busy than last year, we still saw 140 people and made a £200 profit, Royston charity shop made £120. A big thank you for all volunteers who made delicious cakes and a very special thank you to Angela and Liz who helped on the day along with Charity shop volunteers.

Update stories: Pinot, a very scared kitten, is doing really well in his new home. After spending the first couple of weeks hissing at everything, he has figured out that his new family actually are quite good to be around! He really has come out of his shell and now charges round the house playing.

Simba and Sammy a lovely pair of brothers were rehomed a year ago.

Their new owner has sent us a photo.

Our vision is of a world where all pets are well cared for in loving homes for life.

London This month we have rehomed 37 cats!!!

Another amazing month beating last November by 5 cats!!!

After 60 days in our care & two different foster homes

Garfield had his happy ending

This is what his new owners have a say about him.

“After a week of adjustment and tip toeing around the house, he has started to come out of his shell! He’s now very vocal (with his high pitched squeak) to let you know he is in the room. He is eating well (probably too well) and enjoys nothing more than a game of tug of war with his shoe lace and being groomed whilst he weaves between your legs. As you will see in the photos, his favourite relaxing position in still the Egyptian sphynx pose with his legs stretched out.” him.”

Volunteer Day Out to Kings Bush Farm for our Xmas Extravaganza & Volunteer Coffee Afternoon On Sunday 27th November, 15 of our wonderful volunteers had the opportunity to visit our Godmanchester Centre. When we arrived we were greeted by Gail, our Volunteer Coordinator in Cat Section. She gave us a fabulous tour of the entire site including cats, dogs, smalls and field animals. We then attended the Coffee Afternoon where we got to chat with lots of other volunteers & had a chance to warm up with some coffee & munchies. Everyone then went off on their own to wonder around the centre at their leisure, visiting lots of different animals and also the Christmas Extravaganza. A great day was had by all!!

Our vision is of a world where all pets are well cared for in loving homes for life.

Doggie Updates Last month saw the introduction of a new initiative to Dog Rehoming which is aimed at improving the way our dogs react to visitors to the kennels. Various studies have shown that the way a dog behaves in its kennel is actually more important than its appearance when it comes to being chosen by a rehomer. To help with this we have introduced treat pots on the outsides of the kennels to allow visitors to create a nice positive association for the dogs.

We are looking to get more staff and volunteers involved so if you would like to come down to the kennels and give the dogs a treat then feel free, just let Dog Reception know that you are a volunteer. When you enter the kennels you will see instructions to remind you how it works!

We had a wonderful update from an old friend this month. Phoebe, the Lurcher was with us for 188 days last year and left for her forever home on Christmas Eve. Phoebe has had an eventful 2016, she made a guest appearance at her new owners wedding and then travelled with them in their mobile caravan across Europe; to France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. Phoebe even rode a gondola in Venice and ate at some fine restaurants - and stayed in some plush hotels! Sounds as though she’s having a great time.

Email your stories, pictures, gossip, or comments to volunteers.matter@woodgreen.org.uk

Doggie Updates We’ve also received an update from Jessie and Arthur. This unusual pair have made themselves completely at home and absolutely love the sofa!

STAR OF THE MONTH

Winter has definitely hit us this month and many of Jessie & Arthur the dogs like the gorgeous Bella are staying warm in their coats and jumpers. Some dogs like the handsome Rudi are looking for their new families from the comfort of a foster home. Rudi is a perfect gentleman, he’s very sociable with people, gets on with other dogs, walks nicely on the lead and travels really well. Sadly, he still hasn’t found his forever home yet. If you know of anyone looking for a lovely family pet please point them in Rudi’s direction.

Bella

It was fantastic to see so many of our volunteers at the Christmas Coffee Afternoon, we hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. We want to say a huge thank you for all of your hard work this year. The commitment and support we have seen has been incredible and has done so much to improve the lives of the dogs in our care. Here are just a few statistics showing what you’ve helped us achieve since January…

Over 220 dogs photographed Over 150 videos made to promote dogs Over 1000 hours ensuring we have plenty of clean bedding Over 1100 hours meeting and greeting potential new homes Over 8000 hours spent helping care for and exercise the dogs Over 200 dogs have been able to look for a new home from the comfort of a foster home.

679 dogs have gone to their forever homes!

THANK YOU AND MERRY CHRISTMAS! Natalie, Volunteer Coordinator Dog Rehoming

Email your stories, pictures, gossip, or comments to volunteers.matter@woodgreen.org.uk

Rudi

Meow News Volunteers have donated 678 hours so far this year which has enabled us to rehome cats who are anxious so much quicker. Fostering this year has been extremely busy with over 350 kittens being fostered by our amazing team. Not only has the quality of our photos become stunning but the photographers are also in high demand with our Income Services and Communications teams. They have already clocked up over 110 hours between them in only a few weeks.

Cat Rehoming would like to invite staff and volunteers to come and socialise our cats whilst enjoying some colouring therapy.

The idea is to come and choose a picture to colour, take a pack of coloured pencils and sit with one of our cats who needs some company. Not only will our cats benefit, but it will give you 10 minutes out of your busy day to recharge and benefit from some cat therapy. Unfortunately, no food or drink will be allowed in the units, only pencils and paws. We look forward to seeing you soon!

We have started letting one cat out to help promote them, enable them to interact with our customers and give them a better chance of getting rehomed. Only one cat will be let out at any one time, within our opening hours, and will remain the only one until they have found their forever home. This is Boots, she has been in the Centre for a few weeks and is being let out of her unit to wander around to burn off a few calories.

One of our volunteers in Cat Rehoming, who wishes to remain anonymous, says: “I wanted to make a difference to the lives of cats…and help the staff who do such amazing work. I am happier, [volunteering] is having a very positive effect on my mood and mental health.

[It’s] one of the best decisions in my life.”

She may come out of the cattery so please look out for her, especially if you’re walking dogs.

Give us a quick shout to let us know you’ve seen her and we’ll pop out.

Email your stories, pictures, gossip, or comments to volunteers.matter@woodgreen.org.uk

On the Hoof!

The lovely Rudi!

- Maisie Lord

- Rachael Jones, Cat Husbandry Volunteer, London

Elsa was with me for the longest time, she was such a unhappy bunny in the beginning. One day she came over and started chewing my jacket, I was so pleased she had started to socialise – after that she started to eat from my hand. Unfortunately, she has not found her forever home yet.

- Sue Laos, Rabbit Foster Volunteer

I’d like to introduce you all to Patricia who volunteers in our Godmanchester Charity shop. Pat has kindly agreed to help us out on the donation hotline for a few hours today and is possibly also nipping in tomorrow to lend a hand. Thank you Pat :) - Sent in by Nicola McKinlay Cash & Gaming Campaign Manager, Income Services

Get featured here! Send in your ’On the Hoof’ pics to volunteers.matter@woodgreen.org.uk

Volunteer Opportunities I'm dreaming of a Wood Green Christmas, just like the ones I used to know. Where the kennels listen, and dogs are cosy, as they hear well maintained sleighs delivering in the snow

Closing on 12 December: Can you make our dogs warm and cosy? >> We’re looking for a special someone to help in our laundry to ensure a constant supply of clean blankets for our pups. No experience is necessary to play a key role in in supporting Wood Green, volunteering at our beautiful 53 acre site and enhance your CV. Learn more by visiting this page.

New this month: Do you want to make a practical difference? >> You could volunteer outdoors as our Maintenance, Grounds & Events Volunteer! You’ll assist at Godmanchester with general maintenance, grass cutting, and setting up and dismantling event equipment to ensure our Centre maintains its appeal all year round! Visit this page for the key details.

- Can you keep our dogs’ home clean, tidy and well organised? >> Our Kennel & Arena Facilities Ops role is a great way to gain work experience while helping our dogs stay with us that much better.

Amber, who does the role says:

“I was scared at first but everyone has been so welcoming. I love coming to volunteer, it’s given me confidence. The days I finish tired are the ones I enjoy the most because it means coming together as a team to get the job done.”

You’ll be assisting with keeping our kennel units spick and span, and sweeping the carpets of The Britten Arena: one of the Eastern region’s most popular international size indoor arenas. Please note: there is no contact with the dogs in this role.

- Do you enjoy the open road? >> We’re searching for two people to support our Warehouse Manager with driving stock in our van to Stukeley Meadows and on to a selection of our nine Charity Shops.

Click here for the Volunteer Driver role: if you live near Godmanchester and want to get out and about and meet a variety of people who support Wood Green.

For all our current roles simply visit: www.woodgreen.org.uk/how_to_help/volunteer and click on ‘Current Vacancies’ to see a list of what’s available and fill in an application link.

There is a link to a separate application form at the bottom of the page for fostering animals.

Email your stories, pictures, gossip, or comments to volunteers.matter@woodgreen.org.uk

Mission Statement Volunteers Matter (VM) is Wood Green, The Animals Charity’s official volunteers’ newsletter and was set up to provide a communication link between staff and volunteers, across all three of Wood Green's Centres and nine Charity Shops.

Staff and volunteers are welcome to contribute: * Stories about animals

* Important Notices

* Volunteer’s stories

* Feedback

* Fundraising appeals, collections or wish lists

* Volunteer opportunities

* Events

* Training opportunities

* Centre, Department or Charity Shop news Our Mission: To take in unwanted and lost animals, provide shelter and care, find secure and loving homes, provide advice, support and guidance for pet owners and increase the public's awareness of its responsibility towards animals in society.

Our Values:  We aim to find the right home for every animal in our care.  We endeavour to support anyone who needs help in caring for their pets.  We believe the emotional and physical well-being of every animal we look after is paramount.  We are proud of our non-judgmental and compassionate approach.  We value our volunteers, staff, supporters, and our partners.  We pride ourselves on being open, honest, and committed in every aspect of our work.

Contact Us Did you know we’re always on the look-out for interesting stories and article ideas?

If you have any information or stories you would like to share, please contact us on: volunteers.matter@woodgreen.org.uk The deadline for contributions is Friday 27th January. Please include a photo wherever possible as it really helps bring your story to life, and please remember to let us know who is in any pictures you send. 200 words limit applied for each story.

Our vision is of a world where all pets are well cared for in loving homes for life.