Animal charities mark Remember A Charity Week
Remember A Charity’s greatest strength is its 140 members. But its coalition of members is also its biggest challenge. How do you tell the story of so many charities during one week?
For the remainder of Remember A Charity Week, we’ll be profiling charities from key causes. Today is the turn of our animal charities…
Sam, press officer at Abbeyfield, did a great job gathering local Hertfordshire & Middlesex charities together for a media photocall, generating some great legacy publicity. I love the photo above. Where else would you get Saracens rugby player Ethienne Reynecke, Quiksilver the alpaca, and the Animal Care Trust’s Claire Whitehead?
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Charlotte Peters from the Dogs Trust, also arrived with ten-year-old rescue dog, Nigel, delivered a timely reminder that a third of the charity’s income is through legacy donations.
Guide Dogs have also been busy doing their bit for the week. Not only will they team up with Arthiritis Research UK on a stall at the Medeival Market in Chester on Friday, they’ve also been branding their buildings whilst using tea as a starting point for legacy conversations. As well as all this, Guide Dogs are the only charity taking part in the Free Wills campaign across September and will use this to publicise the campaign.
Guide Dogs and Raystede Animal Welfare Centre were also part of a photo call in Brighton last week. Ten charities from the Hampshire & Sussex region got tied up in barrier tape outside St. Peter’s church, as provided by the Diocese of Chichester. Even the vicar got involved by giving up his time to help spread the legacy message as widely as possible!
And lastly, Wood Green Animal Shelters are using the week to thank their supporters. Without gifts in wills, the charity would be without the Phyllis Pratt Cattery, funded by a legacy from its namesake. To show their gratitude, staff from the Godmanchester shelter staged their own photograph complete with cats, dogs, rabbits, horses and even goats!
Many of our animal charities including Born Free, The Orangutan Appeal and The Wildlife Trust are featured in the Legacies Through a Lens exhibition. Today marked the opening of the exhibition to the public at the OXO Gallery in London which will run for the rest of the week from 11am till 6pm. But for those of you who can’t make it, take a look at our virtual gallery.
Our animal charities have set an example for the remainder of the week in our challenge to make legacy giving a social norm.
About Rob Cope
Rob Cope is Director of Remember A Charity.