Branch News and Fundraising Events 2003

October 4th 2003 -- Booksale under the Dome in Motherwell Shopping Centre raised £258.   Thanks to all who supported us on the day.  See you again in the Spring!

Mikey comes thru emergency surgery OK!  

A caller reported a kitten with "a bubble on it's chest" and who was apparently half the size of it's litter mates.   Lanarkshire Branch rescued the kitten, whose bubble was the size of a tennis ball, and took him immediately for emergency surgery for a massive hernia.  

The wee soul, now named Mikey, could hardly move his back legs around this 'bubble'.  Robb Vets carried out emergency major surgery and everyone at the vets was amazed at his bravery to survive the operation.   Mikey is cut from top to bottom all the way down his tummy.  He is home with the Branch Co-ordinator with four different types of medicine. Mikey is eating well, although he is in a lot of pain.   More updates next week....

          

Update on Mikey -- 25/9/03.   Pictured above right with his toys, hasn't he grown?
His stitches are almost fully dissolved and he is bouncing about. He was taken from his isolation pen yesterday and allowed to play with the other kittens. Mikey never stopped all day long. The other kittens and cats were exhausted but Mikey just kept jumping about. He sleeps in the toy box as you can see it's his favourite place. He just lies in beside all the soft toys and blends in. He gave me quite a fright when I went to throw toys into the box in a clear up and he moved. Mikey is still small for his nine weeks but he is definitely 100% better now he's had his op. 
The vet said he can have his vaccination next week and be micro-chipped ready for re-homing in October.  Mikey will do well with another kitten or young cat as he is very energetic and boisterous.  

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Fundraising events 
   --volunteers welcome

Lanarkshire branch fundraising continues thru the summer of 2003 with the following events confirmed so far.  Local support is vital as the branch is ran by unpaid volunteers and is self-funded. 

Saturday June 14th --  Strathaven Gala Day - held in the main park in Strathaven with stalls selling cat toys, bric-a-brac, a plant stall, plus a tombola bottle stall.   The roads into Strathaven are closed off from 12 noon for the parade, so best to arrive by late morning to have a chance of getting parked.

Sunday June 22nd --  Sponsored Walk - Strathclyde Park Motherwell.  Starting at the lochside of the watersports centre at 12 noon.  All welcome, and bring you dog for a walk too.   This is part of the nationwide 'Cat Walk' event with over 100 branches throughout the UK taking part over the weekend.

Saturday October 4th -- Booksale under the Dome in Motherwell Shopping Centre.  If you have books to donate then we can pick them up - tel: 01355 245132.  

  Review of Fundraising Concert   Bellshill Cultural Centre, 28/3/03.

The Lanarkshire District Band entertained a near sell-out crowd in Bellshill to raise funds for Cats Protection Lanarkshire Branch.    The DB’s ‘big band sound’ proved a big hit with the audience and the night raised over £600. 

Jazz pianist Tom Cunningham joined the DB’s on stage.  In addition, soloists performed throughout the evening, and just like last year, the soloists were of the highest standard.     The evening was lead by Elliot who was also a whiz on the keyboards and vocals, and added many amusing stories between songs as the DB’s took a breather.

The prize raffle proved very popular with a staggering 578 raffle tickets being sold in the lead up to the concert and on the night.  The raffle 1^st prize was a colour TV kindly donated by Louisa from Uddingston.  

The draw was made during the concert interval with many prize-winners being present on the night to collect their prizes.   As well as cat beds and cat carriers, there were many restaurant meal vouchers and beauty vouchers to be won, and a big thanks to Erica for procuring many of the raffle prizes.

Maria, Lanarkshire Branch co-ordinator, thanked Dominic for bringing the musicians together and also thanked the DB band for a tremendous evening’s entertainment and then invited the DB’s to play again next year…. and they accepted, to the applause of the audience. 

See you all in 2004 then! 

Our ‘Living in Harmony’ concert in March raised almost £800.  The venue in Bellshill was almost sold-out, plus we sold over 400 raffle tickets - first prize being a colour TV.  Other fundraising events held in 2003 have been a supermarket bag packing, three booksales and a stall at Strathaven Gala Day where our bottle stall tombola sold out the 500 tickets in under 2 hours! 

The Cat Walk around Strathclyde Park on 22nd June was a great success raising over £600.   Local papers published our press releases and helped attract 31 walkers to take part.

Kittens and pregnant mother cats have kept us busy throughout the summer.  Several adult cats have been homed via posters on notice boards, plus having a Cat of the Month initiative via our web site www.lanarkshirecats.co.uk that enabled us to recently re-home 14 year old Cookie. 

We are looking for a few more volunteers to assist Laura with the rescue work, especially during the day to help trap cats and take them to the vets.  If you have a few hours to spare and can drive then we would love to hear from you.  Contact us on 07020 901744 or by email at cats@lanarkshirecats.co.uk

 Spring 2003 - Update sent to "the Cat" magazine:  

Our last fundraising event of 2002 was at Wishaw Cat Show with £174 raised and a lot of information leaflets given out to the public.  Fundraising is being stepped up in 2003 with a ‘Full Monty’ Show in East Kilbride, several book-sales, and also a Concert of young musicians and the District Band planned for March 28^th in Bellshill Cultural Centre. 

New Committee members for 2003 include Laura and Kirstine (two new Rescue Officers), Luise (new Publicity Officer), and Janey (new Homing Officer).  This is a tremendous boost as we build on 2002 that was the busiest year yet during 10 years of the Lanarkshire Branch.

25 cats and kittens are currently in care, however not all of these are ready for re-homing as many are receiving on-going vet treatment.  We found that our vet bills were extremely high in 2002 mainly due to the number of hand-rear and sickly kittens and this is why local support of our fundraising events is so important. 

 Autumn 2002 - Update sent to "the Cat" magazine:

Hilde Quigley, our co-ordinator of 6 years, has now left the Branch.  The Committee would like to thank Hilde for all her work. The new co-ordinator is Maria Reid who has been a fosterer and home visitor with the Branch over the last 2 years. 

In March we held a 75^th Anniversary Concert in Hamilton Town Hall featuring local young musicians and the DB Big Band.  The top raffle prize at this event was a helicopter ride and the concert raised over £700 for the Branch.    

During the summer we were inundated with cats and kittens.  At one point we had 4 pregnant mothers who then had 17 kittens between them.  We also took in 4 hand rear kittens for West Lothian Branch so our fosterers certainly had their hands full! 

To continue the 75^th celebrations we will be holding a 75^th Anniversary Exhibition in East Kilbride Library from 7-14 September (Cats Protection Week 2002).  We plan to have information about the 75 years of Cats Protection, and also focus on the work of the Lanarkshire Branch. 

Spring 2002 - Update sent to "the Cat" magazine:

During the last few months of 2001 the Branch had dozens of kittens brought into care.   The youngest was four-day-old 'baby' Francis who arrived in a poor way to be hand-reared by one of our fosterers Maria.  Francis needed feeding every two hours and needless to say Maria is now well used to the lack of sleep - and credit also to a very understanding husband!

In December 2001 we welcomed Alison from East Kilbride onto the committee as Publicity Officer.   The remaining Branch vacancy is for a Fundraising Officer, although during November the Branch still had successful stalls at Wishaw Cat Club Show and a book stall in Motherwell that raised over £200.

 The Branch web site at www.lanarkshirecats.co.uk is proving a hit with some of our  residents also - as this photograph (left) shows! 

 After a welcome Christmas break, 2002 got off to a great start with the prospect of every kitten in care finding a permanent home.   This would give our hard working foster Mums a well deserved breather, but ofcourse the next batch of new arrivals is never far away!

Previously, the Lanarkshire Branch enjoyed events such as Quiz Nights, Psychic Reading Nights, Ceilidh Dancing & a couple of Prize Bingo Nights.   If you have any ideas, then let us know.

Click back to this page each month to see what events are planned for this year. 
If you live in or around the Lanarkshire area then we'd love to see you along at one of our fundraising events.

Email the Lanarkshire Branch.

Cats Protection Lanarkshire Branch contact information :-
PO Box 1927, Bellshill, ML1 4YF
Telephone: 07020 901 744

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