Every donation made to this campaign between Tuesday 29th November 12PM and Tuesday 6th December 12PM will be DOUBLED due to some generous corporate pledgers. One donation, twice the impact.
We have had 3 very generous pledgers this year, St James Place, Mortgage Habitat and The Reed Foundation. They have agreed to match fund anything raised up to £4,000!
One donation, twice the impact. This means that if you donate during the appeal, the pledgers will MATCH your donation.
You donate £5…. Our pledgers will match and donate a further £5 meaning a total donation of £10!
We offer a low-cost veterinary clinic for individuals in receipt of a means tested benefit within our Gloucestershire and South Cotswolds community. We offer weekly 15 minute appointments at our centre clinic in Cam, Dursley to help with minor conditions.
As well as our clinics, we also offer support through neutering and help voucher schemes. For more information about our Low Cost Vet Clinic, click the button below.
So far this year (up to 31st October 2022) we have already held 692 clinic appointments ranging from helping animals with skin conditions, to helping beloved animals cross the rainbow bridge. We ask for a small donation towards the vet appointment and charge medication and prescriptions at cost price.
Since the cost of living crisis, we have seen many more people turning to us for help. With the rise in demand, the increasing costs to the centre and the difficulties with fundraising, we need your help now more than ever to continue to run this lifeline for so many people and their animals.
This year the Low Cost Vet Clinic has cost on average almost £2,500 per month, which is 31% more than the average monthly cost last year. This is due to the higher demand we are seeing of people needing our help.
When someone is living in financial difficulty, sometimes paying for their beloved animal can be a struggle. It’s really upsetting to see just how difficult it is for people whose animal is their priority and sometimes, their whole life, but due to the increasing costs of household bills, they just can’t afford the basic care every animal deserves and needs.
We caught up with Kirstie, who visits our Low Cost Vet Clinic with her lovely French Bulldog, Zina.
‘My name is Kirstie, I have 2 adorable French Bulldogs.’
‘My whole world revolves around them and they have literally saved me from myself in many respects.’
‘I am on benefits at the moment and at this very difficult time, I am struggling to pay for vet bills and medication for my female French Bulldog, Zina. She has very bad allergies which is unknown to us what she is allergic to. She chews her paws and it bleeds from the itchiness and its agonising to watch.’
‘If it wasn’t for the most incredible help and support from the Cotswolds Cats and Dogs Home in Cambridge…her and I would be in dire straits. Zina’s medication bill and vet bill to see the vet has more than halved!! Zina is on the right medication now and she is so content happy and itch free.’
‘The staff are amazing. True, honest care for our animals. They love and support each and every animal! The staff are so friendly and I feel so grateful for their service.’
‘Thank you so much CCDH for helping Zina with her awful problem but also helping me with her and knowing we have a long term solution to Zinas problem…which I can now afford!’
‘I now have somewhere where people help animals for the love of them and not for profit! Many many thanks!!’
Kirstie, client of the CDCH Low Cost Vet Clinic.
We want to ensure all animals, no matter what the situation is, have access to the basic medical requirements they need.
Our fantastic Vet, Mo, shared what the clinic meant to her and how it makes her feel to treat so many animals;
‘I feel very lucky to be involved with our welfare clinic at CDCH – I meet so many lovely animals and dedicated owners. It can be very worrying and daunting if your animal is sick, especially when you are on a low income.’
‘Our clinic is a vital source of help for people – from regular parasite treatments and neutering vouchers, to ongoing medications and low cost vet appointments. It is so rewarding seeing animals benefit from our service, and getting to know them and our clients.’
‘The hardest part of the job is saying goodbye to beloved pets when their time has come to cross the rainbow bridge. It is heartbreaking, but we are here to guide owners during this difficult time, and be there for them and their animals at the end.’
‘I think our welfare clinic is going to become even more important over the coming months, and I hope we can reach out to all those eligible for our service.’
Louise, Receptionist at CDCH said;
‘Our welfare clinic is so valuable to the local community we serve, we are able to help so many animals that wouldn’t be able to get the care they need and we have seen animals lives improved by the service over and over again. It’s even more vital now as we go through the cost of living crisis and we want to let people know we are here to help.’
One donation, twice the impact – it’s that simple!
Between Tuesday 29th November 12PM and Tuesday 6th December 12PM click the button below to donate.
Give what you can, knowing that whatever you donate, it will be doubled.
As the appeal hasn’t yet started – why not write it on your calender now so you don’t forget!
We have 3 amazing pledgers (St James Place, Mortgage Habitat and The Reed Foundation) who have agreed to pledge a total of £4,000! This means we need your help to raise £4,000 too. As soon as we hit this target, we will have a total donation of £8,000.
This will be enough funds to cover all our drugs and veterinary supplies for our clinic for almost 4 months.
Did you know…
Our Low Cost Vet Clinic first opened on 16th April 1997.
That means we have been supporting animals in the community with low cost vet care for over 25 years!
Help us continue to be this life line for hundreds of people every year.
The Christmas Challenge is the UK’s biggest match-funded campaign. For seven days, the challenge offers supporters of participating charities the opportunity to double their donations — and, in doing so, make an extraordinary difference to the world’s biggest challenges.
It’s a simple idea- when the public donates to a charity through a Big Give campaign, we ask funders (philanthropists, foundations or corporates) to match that donation. So £50 from a member of the public becomes £100 for a good cause.
In 2021, the campaign raised over £24m for 928 charities. This year over 900 charities will participate. The campaign supports a wide variety of causes.
Match funding is provided by a range of philanthropic organisations, called ‘Champions’ including The Reed Foundation, DCMS, Julia and Hans Rausing, The EQ Foundation, Candis, The Childhood Trust, The Hospital Saturday Fund, The Waterloo Foundation and many others.
To report cruelty or an animal in distress call 0300 1234 999
RSPCA Cotswolds, Gloucester & District Branch
