Trustees' Annual Report and Accounts
For the period from: 1[st] June 2023 To : 31[st] May 2024.
Feline Welfare
Charity No. 1084722
‘Bo-Jangles,’ 3, Nicholson Street, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 5PT Telephone: 01983 521 778 Website: www.felinewelfareiow.co.uk
Charity trustees who manage the charity
Position
Name
Mr Douglas Charles John Wills Mrs Elizabeth Wills Mrs Nicola Helen Hazelgrove Chairperson Ms Jenny Young Ms Corinne Perks
Dates acted
Acted for whole of period Acted for whole of period Acted for whole of period Acted for whole of period Acted for whole of period
Structure, governance and management
Feline Welfare is a charity governed by a constitution document based on the principles and policies of its founder Mrs Nicola Helen Hazelgrove. The charity is managed by a trust and board of trustees who implement the policies as laid down by the constitution document. Trustees are nominated and elected in accordance with the policy contained therein.
The charity is managed by the trustees who undertake the organisation and implementation of the public charitable work of Feline Welfare. The trustees also undertake the recruitment, training and management of volunteers to assist in Feline Welfare's charitable pursuits including publicity and fundraising.
The charity trustees are responsible for complying with legislation applicable to charities. This includes the registration, keeping of proper accounts and making returns to the Charity Commission as appropriate.
Objectives and activities
The objectives of Feline Welfare are to promote better welfare conditions for those cats and kittens that do not have the benefit of a loving home and to educate feline owners as to the need for the proper provision of decent living conditions and the need for neutering and spaying.
The aim of the charity is to protect, rescue and rehabilitate cats and kittens, both domestic and feral, that may have been abandoned, made homeless, neglected, injured and/or abused and in need or veterinary treatment.
The activities of Feline Welfare are foremost the rescue and rehabilitation of cats and kittens in need of help. If such cats or kittens are unapproachable because of fear or because they are feral, we will trap them using a humane trap. When a cat and or kitten(s) is taken into our care, he or she is immediately checked by a vet and treated for any injuries, infections and/or illnesses. This includes any visual medical check, X-rays and blood tests for organ damage or dysfunction, illness and routine Feline Aids and Feline leukaemia. Also, all cats in our care are neutered or spayed and also microchipped for easy identification.
We try to persuade as many landowners and farmers as we can to have their feral and/or outdoor cats neutered or spayed. Once the relevant permissions have been granted, we trap them and take them through our routine health check and veterinary treatment before neutering or spaying them. Once they have convalesced, they are either returned to the same site, or we find alternative outside homes for them. We only release feral cats if there is a regular source of food, suitable protected areas e.g., hay barn and with someone ensuring their welfare needs are being met.
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Once a cat or kitten has been under our care, we remain responsible for its welfare and protection for the rest of its life. All cats and kittens that we re-home or release back to their usual environment must come back into our care should there be a problem or threat to their resettlement. Before re-homing any of our cats or kittens, we carry out a pre-home visit to ensure any prospective home is suitable. We also carry out follow-up visits to their new homes to ensure all is well, and offer advice when needed on an ongoing basis. We are constantly promoting more responsible pet ownership.
One of our initiatives is our Special Neutering/Spaying and Microchipping Scheme for low-income families. This is particularly significant as the cat situation becomes more demanding, and the numbers needing help rises. Many pet owners find themselves in financial difficulties following redundancy or illness and have consequent difficulties finding employment again. As such, many responsible owners are unable to meet veterinary and sometimes the general costs of keeping a cat/kitten. We help as many people as we can to the best of our ability.
Achievements and performance
The last year has seen an increase in cat and kitten owners in financial difficulties asking for help with veterinary fees for either treatment for illness or injury. Our long running Neutering/ Spaying/ Microchipping Scheme was ongoing throughout the year. We try and help everyone who is unable to afford the full veterinary cost.
Indiscriminate breeding and selling continues to be a huge problem, with local and national internet site sales. Many people experience the problems when their recently acquired cat and kitten shows signs of being unwell and are often flea & worm infested and suffering from intestinal conditions. Many choose not to return the cat/ kitten to the seller due to the unsuitable conditions they were being kept in and often turn to us for help.
We helped with over 200 cats and kittens in this year, both domestic and feral, from differing backgrounds and many needed immediate veterinary treatments for injury, illness or neglect. We carried out all the treatments necessary before rehoming our rescued cats, including: Dental, Skin/ Coat issues, Physiological problems, complete treatment/ surgery, for any illness/ injury, flea and worm treatments and spaying/ neutering and microchipping. Some of the owners of these were helped financially and some with identifying the homes, if any, of strays. We also treated 37 feral cats and kittens, then spayed and neutered the adults before returning them to the farms they came from.
We now have Cat Cuddlers coming to us daily to help socialise the cats/ kittens so they get used to meeting different people before they move on to their new home. We offer any cats 12 years and over as a 'Foster for Life'. We are always in the background to help and we pay for any veterinary treatment they may need for the remainder of their natural lives. This is always very well received and a great success.
Financial review
This year’s fundraising has consisted of generous donations from our very kind supporters including some businesses. A large proportion of the donations are by standing order and are the backbone of our fundraising. We held a Winter fayre, car boot sales and internet sales of donated goods. We also regularly put appeals on social media to raise much needed funds for specific cats with high-cost veterinary treatment and care, and was very well supported with full funding regularly achieved. These appeals help preserve our financial resources for when a cat in need has to have immediate treatment. As usual, most of this year’s income has been spent on veterinary fees and associated costs. Our overheads were less than 2% of our expenditure, leaving over 98p of every pound donated to be spent on Feline Welfare needs.
As Feline Welfare is primarily a rescue and rehabilitation charity, it does not have any material assets. All income is used on consumable and medical purchases and any permanent equipment used is generally the personal possessions of either trustees or volunteers. The charity needs no land or buildings of its own. Any goods sold at Feline Welfare organised fund-raising events are the property of the individual seller, who has offered to sell their goods at said event and then kindly donated some or all of the proceeds to Feline Welfare. In this way, the charity limits financial liabilities in order to focus on the objectives of the charity.
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Annual Accounts Period from 1[st] June 2023 to 31[st] May 2024
Section A - Receipts and payments
| Section A -Receipts and payments | Section A -Receipts and payments | Section A -Receipts and payments | Section A -Receipts and payments | Section A -Receipts and payments | Section A -Receipts and payments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds |
Endowment funds |
Total funds | Lastyear |
| To the nearest £ |
To the nearest £ |
To the nearest £ |
To the nearest £ |
To the nearest £ |
|
| Donations | 19,834 | 0 | 0 | 26,189 | |
| Legacies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | |
| Fund raising | 20,803 | 0 | 0 | 17,460 | |
| Subtotal (Gross income) | 40,637 | 0 | 0 | 47,649 |
| A2 Asset and investment sales | |||||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Subtotal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total receipts | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
A3 Payments
| A3 Payments | A3 Payments | A3 Payments | A3 Payments | A3 Payments | A3 Payments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vets Fees - General | 29,072 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32,907 |
| Vets Fees - Special Scheme | 2,955 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10,609 |
| Prescriptions | 932 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,278 |
| Microchips | 533 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 122 |
| Food | 5,080 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,173.00 |
| Cat Litter | 3,171 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,715 |
| Fundraisingexpenses | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Advertising& Publicity | 273 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 281 |
| Equipment | 870 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 454 |
| General Expenses | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 |
| Insurance | 179 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 178 |
| Maintenance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bank charges | 260 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 165 |
| Subtotal | 43,370 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54,945 |
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| A4 Asset and Investment purchases | A4 Asset and Investment purchases | A4 Asset and Investment purchases | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds |
Endowment funds |
Total funds | Lastyear | |
| To the nearest £ |
To the nearest £ |
To the nearest £ |
To the nearest £ |
To the nearest £ |
|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Subtotal ** | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total payments | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Net of receipts/(payments) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A5 Transfers between funds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A6 Cash funds last year end | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cash funds this year end | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Section B - Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Category | Details | Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds |
Endowment funds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To the nearest £ |
To the nearest £ |
To the nearest £ |
||
| B1 Cash funds | Balance of receipts | -2,733 | 0 | 0 |
| Cash funds | 34,869 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total cash funds | 32,136 | 0 | 0 | |
| B2 Other monetary assets | Not applicable | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B3Investment assets | Not applicable | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B4Assets retained for the charity's own use |
Not applicable | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B3Liabilities | Not applicable | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A - Independent Examiner’s Report
| Report to the trustees/ | Charity Name |
|---|---|
| members of | FELINE WELFARE |
| On accounts for the year | 31st May 2024 Charity no 1084722 |
| ended | (if any) |
| Set out on pages | 5 & 6 of Trustees' Annual Report and Accounts |
| 11(remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets) | |
| Respective responsibilities of | The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s |
| trustees and examiner | trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities |
| Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. | |
| It is my responsibility to: | |
| • examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act, |
|
| • to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity |
|
| Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and | |
| • to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. |
|
| Basis of independent | My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity |
| examiner’s statement | Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the |
| charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes | |
| consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations | |
| from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide | |
| all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as | |
| to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those | |
| matters set out in the statement below. |
- Independent examiner's In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention (other than that statement disclosed below *) 1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements: • to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and • to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met.
Date: 15-03-2025
Signed: Name: Alan Rossati
Relevant professional No professional qualifications but formerly self-employed and responsible for
qualification(s) or body (if bookkeeping, tax and VAT returns. any):
Address: 17, Westway, Main Road, Newbridge, Isle of Wight, PO41 0TP
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Section B - Disclosure
Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .
NO MATERIAL PROBLEMS NO ITEMS TO DISCLOSE
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