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2021-03-31-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT 2020 / 2021

FELINE CARE

Feralands Roudham Road, East Harling Norfolk NR16 2QN

Registered Charity No: 1144830

1. BACKGROUND

Feline Care (FC) is one of a few cat charities in the UK which aims to support feral, stray and domestic cats through rescue, rehoming, neutering and educating the public on the responsibilities of owning cats as pets. The staff work tirelessly to relieve the suffering of cats by providing temporary and permanent accommodation for their care and treatment and in the hope of finding them permanent homes.

All cats taken in on a temporary or permanent basis, regardless of age and health, are cared for in a purpose-built sanctuary at Roudham, Norfolk, which can accommodate upwards of 150 cats. None of the cats taken are put to sleep unless professional medical advice suggests it is in their best interest, and many residents live well into old age in the comfort of this safe haven.

While the charity always aims to help as many cats as possible, it’s work can never be quantified by numbers alone as the priority is and will always be, to help those most in need. FC promotes high standards of companion animal ownership and responsible management of domestic, stray and feral cats through neutering. It is active in promoting responsible ownership in the home as well as in a business environment.

The Roudham FC sanctuary set-up includes communal pens in a purpose built single storey building as well as isolation units and an intensive care room for those admitted with medical needs. For the outdoor residents, including feral cats, there is ample outside space of over 3.5 acres, with shelters, which provides a green and pleasant environment for those preferring to reside outdoors.

Work undertaken with groups of feral cats often includes the control of growing colonies on business premises where cats are captured, neutered and returned to the working environment. The FC team covers primarily the local Breckland area but works closely with other cat and animal charities whenever possible to deal with feral colonies and difficult to re-home animals.

None of this work could be done without the generous support of cat lovers not only across the UK but from across the globe.

2. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Feline Care began operating as an independent charity on 1 April 2012. The Trustees, as charity trustees, have control of FC, its property and funds. They are governed by the Trust Deed signed on 7 September 2011; Trustees were appointed for varying terms of office to ensure continuity. At the end of each term of office, the remaining Trustees agree either to reappoint or to appoint a new Trustee. Should a Trustee resign mid-term, a new Trustee may be appointed. New or reappointed Trustees have a three-year term of office.

The following were Trustees of FC during 2020/2021 :

Kenneth Hill : Chairman and policy review Molly Farrar : FC representative Stephanie Kayne : Human resources Roger Noddings : Financial overview (resigned 16[th] March 2021) Carrianne Freeman-Hall: Appointed 15[th] November 2020 Lisa Bailey: Appointed 20[th] March 2021 James Thurston: Appointed 20[th] March 2021

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All Trustees undertake their duties in a voluntary capacity and receive no remuneration or other benefits for their work as Trustees. In addition to volunteering as a Trustee, Miss Farrar is employed by FC as the charity’s full time manager.

The Trustees hold quarterly meetings, presided over by the Chairman or a nominated deputy. At least three of the five appointed Trustees are present at each meeting. The agendas for meetings have as routine business : matters arising, updated financial report, fundraising and staffing issues. Other matters are included for discussion and agreement as necessary.

Rick Wakeman and Ian Lavender continue to be Patrons of the charity.

The independent review of the FC accounts was undertaken by SCS Accountancy Solutions Ltd of Dereham. Payroll is managed by Becky Potiphar, voluntarily in house.

3. OPERATIONAL SUMMARY

Animals arrive at the sanctuary in a number of ways, they maybe found as strays, brought to the centre, dumped at the gates or relinquished by owners no longer able to care for them. We are also asked to trap strays and colonies of feral cats. Feline Care remains technically full all year round. Admissions are purely on a priority basis and are entirely dependent on availability of spaces. We operate an active waiting list of cats whose owners wish to rehome their pets.

On arrival, all animals undergo a full health check and, where necessary, are neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and given veterinary treatment. Each animal spends three to four weeks in quarantine before being allowed into any communal cat area when appropriate. Kittens are rehomed in pairs under a neutering deposit scheme to ensure that they will be neutered at the appropriate stage.

Where possible, colonies of feral cats are brought into the centre, neutered, left ear clipped, microchipped and then returned to their original location. Where returning or rehoming is not possible, feral cats are allowed to roam free on site, are fed twice a day and have free access to indoor areas. Their veterinary care is managed sympathetically with the help of Cherry Tree vets in Diss, who undertake regular visits to the sanctuary. We continue to use Knotts Yard Veterinary Practice in Watton, but having been our primary vets for many years, in 2020 they were unable to continue providing the required level of support, so our primary veterinary services are now received from Cherry Tree vets.

Our free roaming colony of around 60 cats comprises mostly those who are not people friendly. However as their trust grows over time, we never rule out rehoming these cats provided it is to homes that are suitable for their individual needs.

FC meets regularly with the RSPCA and a group of other rescue centres to discuss local challenges and ways to support each other in helping more animals. FC is also a member of the Association of Dog and Cats Homes (ADCH) which promotes best practice in animal welfare and is dedicated to dog and cat rescue. We believe our presence in the ADCH is important as a voice for independent rescue organisations.

We have over 1,200 supporters on Facebook, which continues to be extremely helpful as an educational and communication tool. In 2020/2021 our Facebook posts reached over 274,200 people which was up 378% on the previous year. The Twitter community is also growing, with around 1,000 followers. Our Instagram account reached 3,714 which was up 468% on the prior year. We sent out three e-news updates to our mailing list of around 1700 people with 500 people opening these updates. The FC team page on Facebook used purely by volunteers, continues to be an extremely useful place to share cattery operational information. Volunteers have high levels of engagement with this team page.

Having lost our regular donation of food from Whiskas a few years ago and still having no luck in sourcing a bulk tinned food supplier, we continue to bulk purchase pouch food from Purina via their charity scheme. To promote good oral health in our kittens, we have moved to feeding Smilla, a sugar free food, and for all our residents health we have switched our core biscuit to Royal Canin. Both Smilla and Royal Canin are purchased from various suppliers.

We are supported by very generous public donations of various cat foods and treats, these are essential when we have picky cats arrive and require a gradual transition onto our standard diets.

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With Covid very much a part of everyday life, it necessitated a change in our adoption procedures to reduce the volume of people attending the site. Potential adopters now complete a web based questionnaire detailing their home situation and animal requirements. This form allows us to assess if the potential adopters might suit any of our residents. We then follow up with a phone call to discuss cats and, if all goes well, a virtual homecheck is completed via video call to ensure the suitability of the environment. Adopters meet the animals face to face on the day they collect them.

None of our large fundraising open days were unable to take place in 2020-2021 due to Covid restrictions and uncertainties. We very much hope that these can resume in due course.

4 STAFF and VOLUNTEERS

During 2020/2021, we employed the following paid staff :

As we worked through the changes that Covid brought to our standard operational processes and routines, we did not replace our part time administration assistant , continuing to share the administration work out amongst the other staff.

Our Diss charity shop closed for good in May 2020, having shut for the National Covid lockdown. Despite our Estate agents being very supportive, the landlord felt unable to offer us any Covid relief. Uncertainties of when non-essential shops could continue trading and the landlords inability to offer any rent reduction whilst we couldn’t trade, necessitated the closure. In light of this we didn’t replace one of our part time shop assistants when they retired in September 2020. Our other part time shop assistant was fully furloughed until the end of April 2021.

The Diss shop had provided us with a significant storage space for donated goods. As a result of the closure we paid for storage of donations off site until February 2021.

Our Attleborough shop closed 23[rd] March 2020 as required by the National Covid lockdown. The nature of this shop meant we felt unable to open it again until 18[th] November 2020, when we opened on a limited basis for click and collect from our online shop. Normal trading from the Attleborough shop fully resumed 12[th] April 2021.

As with all charities, FC relies heavily on a large number of volunteers who dedicate anything from a few hours to a few days a week, undertaking everything from the daily cleaning out of cats, manning stalls at fundraising events, serving in the charity shops, standing for hours shaking collection tins at supermarkets and other stores, to helping with site maintenance. When we had to close the site and shops in March 2020 due to Covid, we lost a significant number of our volunteers. Some left permanently as a result of the lockdown regulations, whilst others felt offended by the restrictions we imposed for site safety. A core of dedicated volunteers remain and they continue to be an essential part of the Feline Care team. These volunteers returned to site gradually from mid June 2020.

With the reduction in volunteers on site during the Covid situation, our cattery assistants coped very well with the challenging and stressful environment.

5 FINANCIAL REVIEW

In 2020/2021, our ninth year of operation, both our income and expenditure decreased compared to the previous year both due to the effects of COVID, with a total income of £191,071 and expenditure of £134,904.

The end of year difference between income and expenditure was £56,167. The total held in cash and bank balances was £233,880, reserves held to continue weathering an uncertain future due to the COVID storm.

We applied for and received various Covid support grants, including one from Support adoption for Pets and another from Covid job support.

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Reserves

FC’s official reserves policy was confirmed at the Trustees meeting on 24 July 2016, where it was noted that

As reported above, we aim to hold reserves of a minimum of half our annual running costs, taking into account the year on year fluctuations in income and expenditure.

6 SPECIAL CASES

Our year started with lockdown and we fast learned we were one of very few rescue organisations still willing to admit and help cats. This led to a huge pressure on us to prioritise those who were most in need and to keep space available for more urgent cases.

Thankfully an increase in people taking on cats meant we received very few calls from the public and we were able to keep up with all the emergency cases about which we were contacted.

At the start of the first lockdown we were called out to a stray cat who'd given birth on concrete under a car on a housing estate. While gathering her tiny, freezing cold babies was easy, catching mum proved difficult and time consuming. Eventually we caught her but sadly three of her babies could not be saved. The remaining two went on to be adopted and mum, Dominique now lives here on site with her new feline friends.

Another surprise admission was an Asil cockerel, a breed commonly used for illegal cock fighting, who had been hit by a car while roaming free along a main road in a local town. We were informed no other rescue organisations would attend and felt compelled to help. 'Rodney' has since fallen in love with our existing cockerel, Oakey, and the two now free roam here with our cats.

We had our fair share of palliative cases from which we never want to shy away if we can offer quality of life for their final days, weeks or months. Snowy was one such special case, he will stay etched in our hearts forever. Snowy was a deaf white stray who was brought to the UK from Greece to get help for a squamous cell carcinoma (skin cancer) on his nose. Sadly his prognosis was bleak as the cancer had progressed too far, so we gave him a place to call home and roam free for whatever time he had. His rescuers drove from London weekly to visit him when lockdowns allowed and Snowy had 75 days of love with us before we felt the time was right to let him go.

In August we helped another rescue with a large colony of pedigree and crossbred cats from a hoarding home, taking in 12 cats that had had limited exposure to people. While pet theft was at an all time high we felt it would be inappropriate to advertise the cats were in our care, as we risked putting our site and residents in a vulnerable position. Thankfully holding out for the right home and not advertising them meant we eventually found a very special home willing to adopt the remaining close knit group of 5, including one sphynx cross, 3 devon rex and a DLH with cerebellar hypoplasia who was very attached to his odd looking friends!

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This year we had a treat seeing two old friends from a colony we trapped neutered and returned (TNR) in 2014. One of which came in for a de-mat as seven years on he is starting to find his longer coat difficult to maintain. He has been returned to his home but we expect he may be back annually for some coat maintenance. The second has stayed with us due to increased health needs and she's become a grateful member of the FC permanent family.

Keeping links and positive relationships with the colonies we TNR has long term benefits for the cats, as well as proving to us the value of our work. It's been positive to witness that the original colony of 13 has naturally reduced in numbers over time and as neutering creates a 'closed' colony, no newcomers have arrived in those years.

The last cat we admitted in this year was Jimmy and his story shall not be forgotten. Neighbours noticed they hadn't seen his owner let him out for some time. They called police, who found she had passed away at home a couple of weeks previously. Terrified Jimmy had been shut in with his beloved owner for all that time, and without food had eventually been forced to eat some of his owner. We cannot imagine the confusion and worry he went through but we're glad to have been there for him when he needed help.

7 WORK UNDERTAKEN IN 2020/2021

In light of the Covid pandemic and concerns on how this could impact the charity in the longer term, we were very reserved in our operational spending, pausing all large projects. With less volunteers on site, any time we had away from cat care, we focused on prioritising normal site maintenance, which with 4 acres of land can be time consuming.

We continued to improve enrichment things for the cats on site, adding a number of cosy outdoor sleeping huts.

Two of our outdoor communal areas received attention, with freshly plastered walls and new, easy clean flooring laid.

Our main gate sign, a large white cat, was refurbished this year.

Our Attleborough shop refit was completed. Re-opening the shop following the Covid lockdowns then required a layout change and implementation of new Covid safety screens.

8 FUTURE PLANS

Every care continues to be taken to ensure that expenditure is kept under control, whilst ensuring that the wellbeing of the animals does not suffer. However, substantial investment will still need to be made to continue the programme of upgrading and increasing accommodation for the cats and for the building of permanent staff accommodation at the sanctuary. The charity continues to save for this purpose. The ringfenced reserves mentioned above ensure the need for permanent staff accommodation is kept as an agenda item for the Trustees and remains a continuing priority in the longer term.

Applications for grants and donations aimed specifically at the Perfect Home Project continue. Remaining long term elements of the project include :

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Continued delivery of the Perfect Home Project will go a long way to future-proofing our work.

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The Trustees declare that they approved the Annual Report above

Signed on behalf of the charity’s Trustees

K Hill

Signed : ………………………………………… Kenneth Hill, Chairman 30[th] January 2022 Dated : …………………………………………

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Feline Care

Receipts and Payments Account for the Year Ended 31st March 2021

Income
Donations
Fundraising Activities
Interest Received
Other Income		 45,926.39
68,846.13
53,316.34
22,986.12
191,074.98
Expenses
Wages
Vet fees/ neutuering
Animal food
Cat litter
Micro chipping
Vehicle expenses
Waste disposal
Utilities / insurance
Heating Oil
Maintenance / renovations
Admin & Postage
Rent and rates
General Expenses
Storage
Subscriptions
Telephone and internet
Net Expenses
Balance of Receipts for the year
Cash and Balances B/Fwd
Cash and Bank Balances C/Fwd
Represented by:
Cater Allen Account
Co-operative Account
Santander Account
Skipton Building Society
Creditors
Debtors		 90,010.07
14,561.78
1,403.57
812.75
609.60
5,016.00
1,638.93
5,540.48
5,610.60
1,200.00
657.29
5,836.21
40.00
912.00
54.00
1,000.99
134,904.27
56,170.71
177,713.28
233,883.99
85,633.26
77,869.03
24,155.73
46,225.97
233,883.99

Feline Care Cat Rescue & Homing Centre Statement of Assets and Liabilities 31st March 2021

The feline Care Assets comprise of:-

Cash and bank balances - totalling £233,883.99 Debtors £0.00 Purchases paid for after Year End

Equipment and Fixtures and Fittings - including the sanctuary and grounds.

The Feline Care Liabilities comprise of:

Creditors £0.00

Various supplies paid after year end.

The Receipts and Payments Account and Statement of Assets and Liabilities were approved by the Board of Trustees on

And signed on its behalf by:

……………………………………………….. Trustee

Feline Care Cat Rescue & Homing Centre Receipts and Payments Account Independent Examiners Report

Registered Charity Number 1144830 For the Year Ended 31st March 2021

I report on the accounts of the Feline Care Cat Rescue & Homing Centre for the year ended 31st March 2021 which are set out on the following pages.

Respective Responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner

As the Charity's trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts; you consider that an audit is not required for the year (under section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (the Act)) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

Basis of Independent examiner's statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directors given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the 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 concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the accounts.

Independent Examiners Statement

In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

Sue Sheldrake SCS Accounting Solutions Limited Unit 5, Broadway Barns The Broadway, Scarning Dereham, Norfolk NR19 2LQ

Signed …………………………………………………………

Date 31st January 2022

Invoice

Feline Care Cat Rescue & Homing Roundham Road East Harling Norwich Norfolk NR16 6QN

Invoice No: 8868 Invoice Date: 31/01/2022 Account Ref: FELINECA VAT Reg No: 250 8131 33

PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW BANK DETAILS

Details Net Qty VAT% VAT Gross _________________ To carry out internal audit and provide Financial Statements for £300.00 1 20 £60.00 £360.00 the year ended 31st March 2021 from client records.

Payment Terms: 30 Days upon Invoice Date Transmission of Accounts, Tax Returns and other Data to Companies House or HMRC will only be made upon payment of this invoice. We reserve the right to charge interest on overdue invoices as per "The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998"

BACS payments: SCS Accounting Solutions Limited Sort Code: 30-92-88 Account: 37845868

Total Net Amount £300.00
Total VAT Amount £60.00
Invoice Total £360.00