CK9 Trustee Annual Report
1 Jan – 31 Dec 2024
CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 1186980
Page | 1
Contents:
| PAGE No. | |
|---|---|
| Admin & Legal | 3 |
| Activities in 2024 | 4 |
| Provision of Services | 5 |
| Trustees Report | 6 |
| CK9 2024 in Numbers | 8 |
| Fundraising | 9 |
| Treasurers Report & Accounts | 10 |
| Adopted Dogs | 12 |
| 2025 Objectives | 14 |
| Acknowledgements | 15 |
Page | 2
Admin & Legal:
Administration and Legal Charity Name: Cloud K9 Rescue
Registered Charity number: 1186980
Charity’s registered address: 1 The Sycamores, South Kilworth, Lutterworth, Leics, LE17 6EW
The Charity Trustees are:
Colleen Stead: Trustee Appointed 31[st] Jan 2020 Bridget Younger: Trustee Appointed 5[th] Jan 2020 Dave Younger: Trustee & Treasurer Appointed 5[th] Jan 2020 Rebecca Atkin: Trustee Appointed 8[th] Feb 2020
During 2024 we continued to operate with 4 trustees. We continue to try and identify more potential trustees who we feel would be a good match, with a different skill set that will complement the existing team. However, we won’t recruit just to increase numbers. Working with four trustees works well as it makes communication easier, however there are more things we would like to be doing to promote the charity and the dogs, that isn’t always possible due to time constraints.
Page | 3
Activities in 2024:
In Romania the stray dog population is enormous due to its political history, it’s lack of animal welfare laws, it’s cultural misunderstanding of the benefits of spay and neuter and its commonly held belief that dogs are vermin and can be discarded on a whim. It is a country of cultural diversity though with dedicated rescuers who devote their lives to rescuing those dogs in desperate need.
Sadly, thousands of puppies are born who are then discarded at the side of busy roads, rivers or in forests never to be found.
Pregnant females, elderly and ill are either captured by merciless dog catchers or handed in by their owners and deserted at the horrific and unforgiving public shelters. In these shelters overcrowding, hunger, disease, fights and injury are commonplace.
The saddest are the elderly who have given a lifetime of devotion to an often-uncaring owner only to be handed over to the dog catchers when their bark has gone and their health is failing.
The only possible way to escape this hell is to find a suitable rescuer, foster carer or adopter, most likely in a foreign country.
Our dedicated team who aim to visit annually (self-funded), have been haunted by the plight of Romanian dogs and are committed to doing everything we possibly can for these dogs. We are often asked “why Romanian dogs?” and the answer is simple….. because if we can offer even just one dog a chance to a better life and then why would we not? There is absolutely no comparison to a rescue/rehoming centre here in the UK to the public shelters in Romania, absolutely none. We have seen it for ourselves.
We work with a small number of Romanian rescuers. These are people who we know and trust, supporting them by offering rehoming and monetary donations towards vet fees, dog food or even kennels. Over the last few years, we have all fostered, adopted, and raised funds for many Romanian dogs and we will continue to do so until there are no dogs to rescue.
As you can see from our accounts, we have met all of our objectives. We have cared for dogs in Romania that needed help, which, without our intervention they certainly would have died. Most moved on to other rescues for them to rehome.
Page | 4
Provision of Services:
Below are the services we have set out in our governing document to undertake as a charity.
Fundraise in the UK
Foster dogs in the UK
Adopt dogs in the UK
Provide support for our Adopted dogs in the UK
Offer RBU for our adopted dogs in the UK
Raise awareness of the status of dogs in Romania by attending dog shows and festivals
Support rescuers in Romania with financial aid
Fundraise and help towards dogs in Romania who need special care
Undertake special projects in both UK and Romania
Page | 5
Trustees Report:
2024 summary
2024 was a steady year for us, due mainly to the lack of Foster Carers. Several appeals were
made throughout the year.
Throughout 2024 we reserved, fostered and found new homes for 17 dogs, including one that was relinquished back to the charity due to unfortunate personal circumstances.
January began with us continuing to sell the last few remaining 2024 calendars, having a different format to previous years. They were fantastic and well received by all. We held our first meeting of the year and agreed to continue operating as we did in 2023.
In January we agreed to help a dog called “Three”. She was a girl of around 2 years old and living at Pata Rat which is Europe’s largest landfill site. She had a congenital disability resulting in a shortened, deformed leg. Our friends at TAC vets rescued her and we agreed with them that there was no benefit in amputation as she coped very well and had no pain. She came to the UK and is now living a very full and active life. Her name is now “Hetty”.
Also, in January we were delighted to hear that we had won the Christmas Doggy Lottery and received a donation of £320.
February saw us have a small fundraiser of a Valentine’s Day game.
March brought more good news that we had won the Doggy Lottery again which brought in £903.
In April, a branch of Vets 4 Pets contacted Bridget and donated dog beds, leads, collars and dog food which was sent to Romania on the next transport.
In May and June, we held 2 more fundraising games.
June saw us contribute funds to our fourth Spay and Neuter Campaign organised by Transylvanian Animal Care. (TAC). They spayed more than 90 females along with some males and a few cats.
In July we attended a local North East Strawberry Fayre organised by a school. Our event stand outlined our work in Romania and highlighted the need for foster carers and adopters in the UK.
One of our foster carers, Debra, self-funded a trip to visit on of our rescuer friends, Ana. Debra stayed a few days, meeting dogs in Ana’s care and helping her with day-to-day tasks.
In September we made an appeal for funds to help a little dog called Margot who needed a leg amputation following a crush injury. Margot was successfully operated on and once fully recovered, travelled to her new home.
October 1[st] was National Black Dog Day and we received lots of lovely photos of past and present dogs. We also held a photo competition on the theme of Autumn leaves which brought in many entries.
A big event for us in October was one of our adopters, John, running the York Marathon. He ran the 26.2 miles in 3 hours 52 minutes and raised £500.
November saw us 3[rd] time lucky, once again winning the Doggy Lottery. This time our reward was £800.
Page | 6
In December we had a huge Christmas Lucky Dip raffle, the main prize being a holiday donated by Marisa at Paws n the Paddock. We were also invited to take part in the Doggy Lottery Mega Christmas round, which involved 12 charities. We were up against some huge charities in this round so we were quite amazed and delighted when we came in First Place. Huge thanks to Lisette from Doggy Warriors for continuing to let us take part. It also seems our supporters are very competitive – we love them for that!
We ended the year with another visit to Woodlea School, this time at their Christmas Fair.
A huge thank you to the fosterers from the year - Debra, Emma, Caroline, Bridget, Dave & Beccy.
Looking to 2025, the objectives are to carry on doing what we are doing. We would like to help more dogs, we definitely want to fund another spay and neuter campaign, subject to raising enough funds. We would like to run at least one dog show. It would also be nice to get a new Instagram account up and running.
Thank you to all of the people who have helped us this year. Again, we can’t do any of the things we do without moral and financial support provided by supporters, family and friends.
Equally we cannot rehome the dogs we bring over without the wonderful rescuers we deal with in Romania and the fantastic fosterers who have helped us all year.
Finally a thank you to the rest of the CK9 committee (and families) who give up their free time and often their homes to give Romanian dogs a better life. We’re excited for 2025 and getting to meet and know more lovely Rommie dogs.
Page | 7
CK9 2024 in numbers:
| 17 dogs rehomed | |
|---|---|
| Cost of Rehoming Dogs to / in the UK | £7,286.17 |
| Donations to Romanian Shelters | £2,724.92 |
| UK Vets Fees | £1,559.09 |
| Spay & Neuter Campaign | £3,033.48 |
| Food Club Money Sent to Romania | £1,277.31 |
100 plus animals spayed in the June campaign and some cats too.
Page | 8
Fundraising:
We would firstly like to thank the regular monthly donors, whether that is £1 or £30, this enables us to send money to Mona and other shelters for the strays on the streets.
We pride ourselves on not relying on individual donations, although welcomed, rather supporting ourselves through hard work fundraising. During 2024 we rehomed a small number of dogs, therefore fundraising continued but we supported by funding the spay and neuter campaign and donated to different rescuers who needed it.
We always try and think of new and different initiatives for raising funds, whether that is via social media or external events.
Online fundraisers have been effective for quick turnaround of funds, in the form of Bridget’s ‘Guess the ……….’. Most winners kindly donate back their winnings, which is much appreciated.
The Doggy Lottery has continued to be a real windfall, which we first got involved in during 2021. During 2024 we participated on two more occasions. We hope this will continue through 2025 as well.
We have had generous support from small businesses and individuals, donating items or vouchers for raffles.
Page | 9
Treasurers Report & Accounts:
This is our fifth full year as a registered charity. Once again, we started the year with a good balance in the bank account and with our fundraising efforts, we have been able to fulfil our commitments we have set out in our Governing Document.
There was a slight reduction in the cash held in our accounts, as we have spent a little more on our causes than we received in donations and fundraising.
We have undertaken a Spay & Neuter campaign, which we firmly believe will have a direct (albeit small) positive impact on the problems with the unwanted dog population in Romania. We also helped several dogs highlighted by the TAC Team, whilst they were undertaking the Spay & Neutering.
Several dogs were highlighted to us by the rescuers in Romania, who needed urgent or specialist medical attention, all of which we were able to provide financial support for. We held special appeal requests for some of the dogs with the difference being provided by our general funds.
In December, the Trustees held the AGM, where the fundraising dynamics of the charity were discussed and we fully agreed to continue in the same current way as we did in 2023.
The 2024 accounts have been approved by the Trustees and are being independently verified.
On a final note, we, the Trustees of Cloud K9 Rescue would like to give our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped by adopting a dog, undertaking a fund-raising activity, supporting our fundraising games and by simply being part of group. We could not achieve our aims without you.
Page | 10
Cloud K9 ReKue 2024 A¢eounts k 5.9&i48 5.370.1)J s519 A&ytwJn f4 Gft#thI F(NUGrfld FJe COStofRthj Dry5tolnthELI 1277_31 7,2*5 17 172492 L559 UKlee5 3,D)J ¥92QO) ove YgKvLger Page | 11
Adopted Dogs:
Numbers of adopted dogs were heavily affected by the lack of foster carers, but here are some of the dogs we have rehomed into loving homes
Page | 12
11 Page | 13
2025 Objectives:
We will continue to responsibly rehome as many dogs as we can during the year. We acknowledge that this will be subject to having foster carers.
We would like to continue to run external fundraisers and we’d like to get more people fundraising for us. We will keep doing what we do well though and running online fundraisers, look for individuals or business to donate items for raffles.
We want to continue to work with TAC in 2025 with at least one spay and neuter campaign – maybe two.
We may look at further increasing our vet contingency fund. We know how expensive veterinary treatment is in the UK, so we would like to be financially stable enough to react if we need to.
We would like to add some more people to our foster team.
We will continue to look for one or maybe two more committee members, providing they complement our existing skills and experience.
Page | 14
Acknowledgements:
Monthly donors – this gives us comfort each month that we can send a regular payment to a chosen rescuer for food.
Fundraising Donors - thank you to everyone who has donated a raffle prize this year. Having prizes donated means that all money raised can go to the charity and ultimately the dogs. Special shout out to The Doggy Lottery
Adopters – to everyone who has adopted one of our dogs and given them a future. This is what we do it for.
Fosterers past and present – by far one of the hardest jobs, taking on unknown quantities, giving them time love and patience and having to wave them off to their new home.
Rescuers – our rescuers on the ground in Romania, by far have the hardest jobs. Being faced with cruelty and abandonment every day, little welfare law and little money. Their commitment is unfailing.
Marisa Spurgeon – Donation of holiday for raffle
TAC – The organisation in Romania who run the spay and neuter campaigns in our name. They organise the location, the vet team, the volunteers, the food and everything else that goes with the event. They have also become good friends.
One off donations – whilst we do not rely on, any one-off donations have been very much appreciated.
Family – Sometimes taking a back seat to the charity and often the first people we speak to with successes or heartache.
Thank you to all of the people who have helped us this year. Firstly, we can’t do any of the things we do without the moral and financial support given to us. Equally we cannot rehome the dogs we bring over without the rescuers we deal with in Romania and the fosterers who have helped us all year.
Together – We are making a difference. Thank You .
The Trustees of CK9 Rescue
September 2025
Page | 15