FAT FLUFFS RABBIT RESCUE Trustee Annual Report Year end 30th June 2024 Mrs C Hennegan, Ms J Bell, Mr M Johnson 12108/2024 Fat Fluffs Rabblt Rescue Trustees, Annual Report for year ended 30th June 2024 including general charity operatlons and financial ovetview Fat Fluffs Rabblt Re8cuo & Rehomo rrusteesYAnnual Report - Year Ended 3Oh June 2024 Reference and Administration Details Charity registration - 26 Diddington Lane, Hampton in Arden, B92 OBZ Trustees: 3 - Mr5 C Hennegan, Ms Jocelyn Bell, Mr Martin Johnson Strutture, Governgnee And Management Governing document: Constitution Charity Constitution: Association Trustee selection method: Appointed by existing trustees at trustees, meetings Objectives and Activities Fat Fluffs is a rabbit res¢ue and sancbjary based in Hampton in Arden in the West Midlands. We take in all sorts of rabbits and as far as possible we find Éhem loving forever homes. For those with more challenging personalities or continuing health problems we provide sanctuary for them here and they stay as part of the family and are affectionately known as 'the Fluffs,. Publie Benefit The Anlmal Welfare Act 2006 and the additional Good Practice Code for Rabbit Welfare, updated March 2024, makes owners & keepers responsible for the welfare needs of animals (place to live, suitable diet, nomial behaviour, and protection from pain, injury, suffering & disease) as well as making cruelty unlawfjjl. With all ever increasing number of rabbits CUlTently in rescue tlwoughout UK estimates stand at 67,000+ to date, we see the public benefit of the work of Fat Fluffs as follows:. Providing rescue places for unwanted, abandoned & abused rabbits surrendered by Ilie public Providing long-tem foster care & vet treatment for rabbits with on-going health or behaviour issues surrendered by the public unable to meet the cost of continual treatment Give the opportunity of rehome for rabbits to those wishing lo provide a pennanent, loving home Oive the opportunity of companionship to individuals or families Promoting Rabbit Welfare to the public to educate & raise awareness of their responsibility to meet the needs ofrabbits in their care Providing advice & support to adopters and the general public on all rabblt welfare matters Reducing the number of unwanted rabbits by neutering all incomers to help reduce abandonment and ill-treatment in futhre Ensuring every rabbit who comes through our rescue is protc¢ted against diseases with yearly vac¢inations. Review of Year- Achievements and Performance Financial Review This year, as we look ahead to our ten year anniversary on site at the beginning of 2025, we have spent time and energy making improvements to the rescue set up we have in place, revamping and giving new life to it to try and ensure we get as much use as possible out of our runs, en¢losures and equipment as we can. We have had tlie drive redone as it was liable to flooding, the paths along the slde of the Fluffs, garden and outside the barns have been taken up and replaced with envirogrid and pea gravel to aid drainage as well as look more aesthetically pleasing. The outside rescue runs have been replaced with more secure and attractive gates and enclosures, tlie hay barn has been rejigged and the permanent Fluffs sanCtu￿Y enclosure has been kitted out to maximise space and ernrichment and allow them access to even more hay on a pemianent basis. We have made better use of our office area and our rabbit health carer now has her own space to ensure the health and welfare of the rabbits can be maintained amongst the busyness of the res¢ue. We have new secure fencing around the perimeter of the rescue, low enough to maintain the open feel but high enough that any enthusiastic escapees cannot get too far. We have been delighted with the response of visitors both frequent and new as they have Commented on how improved the site looks and liave appreciated the hard work that has gone into it. Much of the work has been done by volunteers and we are so appreciative of the time and commitment they have shown us. Chgritsble Activities- Rescue, Rehome & Sanctuary During 2023124 we took in 153 rabbits. Twenty-two of these had been rehomed fi'om Fat Fluffs previously but were retumed as the adopters, circumstances had changed and they no longer felt ablc to continue caring for the rabbit(s). niost cases the rabbits, paitner had passed away and the adopters wanted a break from i'abbit ownei'sliip. In Febtijaiy 2024, the Hopper Haven sanCtu￿Y Garden in Redditch was closed down and we look in eiglit of Ilieir sanctuaiy rabbits who wei'e unable to find homes elsewhere. We also took in 15 eigliÉ day old kitteiis froin ttvo litters where the mothers had passed away. The hand rearing of such young kittens is rarely suc¢essffiJl aiid sadly we lost all tlie young. Twenty -nine of die 153 suttendered rabbits passed away before they were offei'ed foi. adoption. We have maintained our waiting list foi. the suttender of rabbits thi.0u￿0Ut Ilie year and Ihei'e has been little change in tlie numbers of people looking to find their rabbits an alteinalive liome. Seven of the sun'endei'ed rabbits joined the sanctuary group as they liad ongoing liealth issues and a furthei. fjve al'e waiting to be bonded into the groLEP. Our s￿]ctU￿Y started the year with I I members and this ll)ereased to a m&Yimum of 26 in FebrU￿y. The nunibers now stand at 19. We successfully rehomed 108 rabbits this year, a figure that is down on previous years. Over 800/0 of the rabbits were rehomed as singles and were bonded witli one or more i?bbits already owned by Ilie adopters. Requests for adoption of pairslgroups were very low and families looking to take on rabbit ownership for the fjrst time were much scarcer than in previous years. Eleven rabbits wlio went out to new lioines were retumed usually because the bond with tlieir partner broke down. Of the retuined rabbits, five went on to fiiid a new honie, one passed away, one joined the sanctuary group and four are still up for adoptioii. All our rabbits are neutered and vaccinated and receive any necessary required vet treatment. We Continu¢ to have a good relationship with Vets4Pets in Shirley and we have the invaluable support of Rebecca at Oaks Vets in Cotteridge, who excels at bunny tooth care and continues to be unimpressed with some of the states of tlie new rabbits coming in. We operate with a "quality of life" etliic and all our rabbits are cared for and treated &8 long as we, and their vet, feel they have this. We will not let a rabbit suffer unnecessarily and have sadly had to let a few of our long term. and very special, rabbits go this year. This year our trustee team has increased to 3 trustees artd 6 core team committee members, after Joyce agreed to join our team. who continue to work hard to keep the running of all the areas of th¢ rescue efficlent and safe. We have found a new site manager who has fitted into the tcatn with ease and has hit the ground running. We are delighted to be in a position where we are now running the rescue with 3 full time staff members and one part time. They are a great team and a credit to the rescue. Our foster co-ordinator, Martin, has continued to support our foster team of volunteers who provide invaluable care to our rabbits not only by giving us additional capacity but also by offering more frequent interaction and socialisation with rnbbits who benefit from thls before moving on to forevei. honies. We lookcd after 43 rabbits across l O foster liomes during tlie year. 33 of these have gone on to be $uccessfiJlly rehomed. Of the rest, 3 will reinain in long term foster homes, 2 are back in tlie rescue, I passed away and the remaining 4 ale Still in temporary foster homes, This year we have seen a decrease in the number of regular and new volunteers, as well as student placements, but as 21ways our core team of volunteers have excelled themselves. we have some who have been with us for many years now and, with our volunteer co-ordinator always encouraging them to give their besL we have appi'e¢iated the hard work and effort eacli and every one of tliem puts in. We are indebted to everyone, our employees & our volunteers alike, for their on-going Commitment, continued hard work and support they give to Fat Fluffs. Everyone involved is key to the existence and growth of Fat Fluffs and we could not have achieved the things we have this year without tlieir help. Aetivltles for generAting funds- Fundraising events & initiatives and Trading With a lot of volunteer time being allocated to site improvements and a general decline in the numbei. of volunte¢i's comlng foiward, there have been limited oppoitunities for undeitaklng internal fundraising activities. Our Sponsor-a-buii programme continues to deliver a liealthy proportion of our annual incoine and we liave been fortunate enougli to receive a couple of substantial donations, one from fundraising activities supported by one of our foinier Trustees and the oth¢r from support by a local school. We liave undertaken a review of the value of external fundraising activities. Since Covid we have seen a large decline in the number of local andlor animal related events we woiild noiinaily attend to raise funds and th¢ profile of the rescue. Thos¢ we have attended liave pi'ovided liinited financial rethms and have not always been aimed at an audience interested in rabbits and die rescue. We continue to look for other oppoitunlties and will be spending more time in tliis area now that the majority of the site improvement work has been completed. Reserves Policy We still have our reserve set to the equivalent to 6 months operating costs, allowing for the Additional staifing costs, at £60,000 to cover periods of difficulty encountered. This atnount will be reviewed periodically at trustees, meetings. As a team we have agreed that witli the housing costs and mortgage rises moving site is not a viable option so we have agreed a five year plan with the owner of the site we currently occupy and, as discussed earlier, have Invested some of tlie funds in developing the site, dealing witli drainage fftssues and making better use of the space we have. Declaration: The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees, report above. Signed on behalf of the charity's trustees: Signature: Full name: Chloe Hennegan Posltlon: Trustee Slgnature: Full name: Martln Johnson Positlon: Trustee Slgnature: Full name: Jocelyn Bell Posltlon: Trustee Charitable Accounts (Receipts & Payments Method) July 2023- Jun 2024 ||RECEIPTS|| |---|---|---| |Voluntary receipts||| ||Direct Donatons|12,281.23| ||Funding Grant|0.00| ||Indirect Donatons|12,954.64| ||Gif Aid|5,046.79| ||Other|0.00| |||30,282.66| |Actvites for generatng funds||| ||Fundraising Initatves (External Third Partes)|0.00| ||Fundraising Initatves (Fat Flufs)|0.00| ||Gifs in kind resale|0.00| ||Trade Sales|0.00| |||0.00| |Charitable actvites||| ||Rabbit Adopton|9,750.58| ||Rabbit Surrender|4,420.50| ||Bonding|3,071.31| ||Vet cost repayment|133.00| |||17,375.39| |Investments/dividends/interest||| ||Investment Income|0.00| |||0.00| |TOTAL RECEIPTS||47,658.05| ||PAYMENTS|| |Cost of Voluntary Receipts||| ||Fees|(1.40)| ||Merchandise Purchases|(32.94)| ||Other|0.00| |||(34.34)| |Fundraising Costs||| ||Equipment & Assets|0.00| ||Statonary Printng & Postage|0.00| ||Paypal Fees|0.00| ||Trade Merchandise|0.00| ||Trade Fees|0.00| ||Other|0.00| |||0.00| |Cost of Charitable Actvites||| |---|---|---| ||Vet fees|(12,679.60)| ||Rabbit Upkeep|(3,115.50)| ||Rents & Utlites|(4,315.82)| ||Equipment & Assets|(917.52)| ||Wages & transportaton|(666.65)| ||Rescue Upkeep|(28,378.27)| |||(50,073.36)| |Governance & Administraton||| ||Governance|0.00| ||Loan Repayment|0.00| ||Website|0.00| ||Other|(330.80)| |||(330.80)| |TOTAL PAYMENTS||(50,438.50)| |NET INCREASE FOR YEAR||(-2,780.45)| ## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report** **Report to the trustees/** Charity Name Fat Fluffs Rabbit Rescue **members of On accounts for the year** 30[th] . June 2024 **Charity no** 1124870 **ended (if any) Set out on pages** 1 I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended **30/06/2024** . **Responsibilities and** As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation **basis of report** of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. **Independent** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have **examiner's statement** come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or - the accounts do not accord with the accounting records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. * _Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply._ **Signed: Date:** 25/11/24 ~~[27 ——S [|~~ **Name:** J.R. Linn ~~Po~~ **Relevant professional** FCA **qualification(s) or body (if any):** **Address:** 20, Gledholt Road, Huddersfield, HD1 4HP **Section B Disclosure** ~~ee~~ Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). **October 2018** 1 **IER** **Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** . **October 2018** 2 **IER**