Nearly £2,000 raised to help charity care for abandoned cats

Cats Protection Anglia Coastal received £1,794.25 from Lowestoft's Pets at Home store.

The money was raised through the store's Santa Paws fundraising appeal over the Christmas period and will provide 3,500 meals for cats in need.

Tina King, store manager, said: 'We always do this type of thing.

'Cats Protection is still relatively new in this area and we want to help them out as best we can.'

The Santa Paws appeal gave Pets at Home customers the chance to donate 50p to charity when visiting the store.

In total £3,588.50 was raised and split between Cats Protection Anglia Coastal and Pets at Home's own charity.

As well as donating the money the store also provided the charity with a pallet of cat food to help more cats in the region.

Miss King said: 'During the fundraising we had a chart up and a competition going.

'It was a massive thing in store.'

The manager said the store was happy to help and highlighted the importance of the work carried out by the charity.

She said: 'They do such a great job finding these abandoned cats, getting them microchipped and finding them a new home.

'It's a great thing to try and give the cats a better home.'

The charity has three main objectives; re-homing abandoned cats, supporting and encouraging the neutering of cats, and improving people's understanding of cats and their care through education and advice.

It is totally self-funding and all money raised locally is used to support cats in the Anglia Coastal area.

A spokesman for Cats Protection said: 'A big thank you to the Pets at Home Lowestoft branch who as a result of the 2017 fundraising initiative presented us with the handsome sum of £1794.25.

'We would also like to thank all our branch volunteers, past and present, who assisted at this even – and of course all our wonderful supporters who donated so generously.'

For more information on Cats Protection Anglia Coastal please visit: www.cats.org.uk/waveney