Abandoned at Freshfields on Christmas Morning

ON Christmas morning 2019, of all days, these 3 frightened kittens were abandoned outside Freshfields in a sealed Christmas bag. Now, they're safe, fed and warm in our Cattery. Ryan Alexander, Acting Cattery Manager, takes up the story:- "At 7.30am on Christmas Day, we found a terrified, tiny kitten dumped in a bag outside the rescue centre. The bag was torn, and our 1st thought was 'how many more kittens were in there?' We thought there would almost certainly be more. We went up the lane and set out some carriers with food, and waited to see what would happen. Staff, volunteers, dog walkers and the public gave up their time on Christmas Day to come together and help us in the search, for which we are extremely thankful. Later on Christmas Day, we found 2 more kittens who had clawed their way out of the bag. In the spirit of Christmas, they were found with the help of our dogs Dodger and Shankley, who sniffed out their hiding places whilst they were out on walks. All three brothers are safe and well. They've been named Isaac, Galileo and Socrates. 1 does have a cut on his tail that may have been caused by trying to escape from the bag, or from burrowing into brambles to try to hide. This has been cleaned up and shouldn't cause him any problems until he can see our vet. We have 3 kittens now, but it would have saved a lot of time and emotional stress if we had known for certain how many we were looking for, so that we could rest easy in the knowledge that we had them all, or alternatively, that we need to keep searching until we re-unite them all safely."

Debbie Hughes, PR and Communications, said:- "The welfare of the animals is the 1st priority for us. In situations like this, we are not here to judge, but we appeal to you; please do not take the drastic step of abandoning the animals without giving us any notice or any information at all about them. The road around the rescue centre is very busy, and there are buzzards around who could have easily taken a kitten. If you are contemplating leaving your animals, please contact us by email, phone or in person and let us know what's happening. We can work with you to do the very best we can to help you and help the animals to find a solution. The 3 boys are recovering from their ordeal, and will not be ready for re-homing immediately. We're hoping that their personalities will come shining through once they have settled in and had a thorough health assessment. We can then make a plan for them to be re-homed, either individually or together. We would be very grateful for any donations, however large or small, to help us to feed and care for these 3 little kittens. You can donate at our website or call us on:- 0151 931 1604. Thank you for your support. Together we can turn around the lives of hundreds more abandoned animals every year."

De-clutter with Purpose for the New Year at The Entertainer

THE Entertainer, the fastest growing, family owned high street toy retailer in the UK, has announced the return of its hugely successful initiative, The Big Toy Re-Homing campaign, in partnership with The Salvation Army.

The campaign will run across all The Entertainer's 172 stores from Thursday, 2 January 2019, calling on families to take part in a New Year's clear out, giving toys at the bottom of the toy box a chance to bring smiles to new faces.

The initiative aims to reduce the number of toys that could find their way into landfill by giving toys no longer played with a new lease of life, whilst aiming to support the 4.1M underprivileged children living in poverty across the country via The Salvation Army.

Thanks to generous donations from across the country in June and September 2019, The Entertainer re-homed an incredible 16,000 toys, weighing in excess of 10,500 kilos, which could have found its way into landfill. Birthplace of The Entertainer, Amersham generated the most donations with an inspiring total of 481 toys donated in September, Basingstoke followed with 461 toys and Sutton Coldfield saved 230 toys from ending up in landfill.

Gary Grant, Founder and Executive Chairman of The Entertainer says:- "We are incredibly proud to announce the return of The Big Toy Re-Homing campaign alongside The Salvation Army. It has been especially brilliant to receive feedback from those both on the receiving end of donations and kind families donating, with words of encouragement and praise for the campaign. Last year was a phenomenal success and we hope to continue to increase the number generous donations we receive for 2020, especially as families look to de-clutter their homes after Christmas and make room for their new toys and games."

Kirk Bradley, Head of Corporate Partnerships at Salvation Army Trading Company, which operates the toy collections on behalf of The Salvation Army, says:- "Donations from the last Big Toy Re-Homing campaign hugely helped in continuing to provide practical and emotional support for vulnerable people in the UK. It's such a worthwhile cause and we're looking forward to the public joining in again as they de-clutter their homes after the festive season!"

The Big Toy Re-Homing campaign will runs until 31 January 2020, across the 172 The Entertainer stores in the UK.

Those looking to donate their toys to The Entertainer don't need to worry about including packaging, however all toys must have a CE label or marking for safety reasons. To find out more, please visit:- TheToyShop.com.

Rail Union RMT responds to transport minister Grant Shapps' announcement on Northern franchise

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:- "Grant Shapps is big on talk about Northern Rail this morning, but short on detail and this has all the hallmarks of a dead cat being ‎slung on the table to distract from the fare rise scandal. If Grant Shapps was serious he would set out a timetable for removing the Northern Rail franchise from Arriva and their replacement with the public sector operator. I am seeking an urgent meeting with Mr Shapps to pin down the detail and how it affects RMT‎ members and the services they provide."