2023-03-31-accounts

Thames Valley Animal Welfare

Registered Charity No. 900616

Annual Report for the year to 31 March 2023

Aims and Organisation

Thames Valley Animal Welfare (TVAW) is registered with the Charity Commission (No. 900616). The postal address is TVAW, P O Box 3139, Reading, RG1 9FQ. The e-mail address is [e-mail] or [e-mail] and the website address is www.tvaw.org.uk.

The Charity operates under a constitution approved by the Charity Commission and is administered by a Management Committee of Trustees, comprising at 31.3.2023. Acting Chair Mrs K Brewer Acting Vice-Chair Mrs C Laker Secretary Mr R Daniels Treasurer Miss H Westgarth Other members Mrs Y Room, Mrs E Walters, Miss A Wells and Mrs J Phelan.

The object of the charity is to rescue abandoned, unwanted, ill-treated, and neglected cats. Veterinary treatment is provided when necessary and all cats are spayed or neutered and microchipped before rehoming. The cats are cared for in individual foster homes until they are ready for rehoming. TVAW aims to find loving permanent homes with responsible people for all animals in its care and undertakes never to destroy any cat unless advised to do so by a veterinary surgeon on the grounds of ill-health. The work of the charity is undertaken entirely by volunteers working from their own homes.

Throughout the year the trustees have given due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and consider that its activities meet the public benefit requirement. Although we record our performance in terms of the number of cats helped, behind each case is an owner, relative, neighbour or member of the public who needs help, either with an owned cat or a stray.

Review of the year to 31 March 2023

Life for everyone has returned to normal after the Coronavirus Pandemic, it is good to be able to operate without restrictions again.

We operate a waiting list for places in foster homes, with priority being given to the pregnant cats, kittens and sick or injured cats. We have noticed more owned cats needing to be handed into the charity, this year, due to the cost-of-living crisis, evictions, deaths in the family, etc. We had over 40 cats on our waiting list between June and December. We have seen an increase of stray kittens again this year. We have helped several multi-cat households again this year, where breeding has become out of control. We have neutered and returned some of the adult cats and found homes for the kittens.

Foster homes

We started the year with 14 outdoor foster homes and 16 cathouses, 6 indoor foster homes and 4 kittens socialisers.

This year has seen a lot of changes within our fosterers. We are grateful to Paul and Carol Preuth, Amanda Farr, Anna Lankester, Julie Easton, Claire Lawrence and Sue Duke for all their hard work and dedication over their years of fostering for us. Anna Lancester, Claire Lawrence and Julie Easton are still involved with the charity and occasionally help with foster cats/kittens in their homes on a temporary basis.

Beth Hepburn and Emma Brown helped us out with kittens for a few months. Salli Scott and Vikki Schofield both had cathouses erected in their gardens but fostered for less than a year each before their circumstances unexpectedly changed.

During the year we have welcomed Steve and Rhian Charnock, Sara Gillet and Sarah Lawrence, who have taken on a cathouse each. Qahir Gulamani, Rosemary Muirhead and Erzsebet Bodonyi as indoor foster homes.

We finished the year with 16 outdoor foster homes and 17 cathouses, 6 indoor foster homes and 3 kitten socialisers.

We are grateful to all our fosterers, who work extremely hard caring from cute kittens to ferocious ferals. We would also like to thank all our transport volunteers who travel far and wide collecting and trapping cats.

Statistics

	2022/2023	2021/2022	2020/2021	2019/2020	2018/2019
Adult cats rehomed	167	155	154	161	174
Kittens rehomed	133	102	143	123	146
Returned to owner	13	6	14	3	9
Put to sleep/Died(b)	2	10	7	7	11
Neutering scheme – low cost	36	34	38	76	151
Neuteringscheme - free		23	14	28	0
Golden Oldie Scheme cats which received vet treatment	36	22	30	31	25
Other cats helped(a)	53	59	47	46	49
	440	411	447	475	565

Notes

(a) These are cats which have been helped by TVAW in some way, usually by the provision of veterinary treatment when owners have been unable to afford it and have not come into a TVAW foster home.

(b) One semi-feral cat with FIV and multiple issues and one cat with multiple issues. The decision to euthanase was taken, in conjunction with the veterinary surgeon, to end their suffering.

Cats Helped

We have helped a total of 125 cats during the year through our Assistance Schemes – Golden Oldies, Vet Grants, Post Homing and Neutering. The table below shows a breakdown of the number of cats helped and the total cost. This is, however, continuing to rise and we are finding that more clients are requiring more help. The notes below give an overview of these schemes.

SUMMARY OF CATS HELPED - 1st April 2022 - 31st March 2023

	Amount Spent	Number of Cats Helped
Golden Oldies	£30,751.53		36
Vet Grants	£12,037.09		44
Post Homing	£9,978.26		9
Neutering Scheme	£2,553.29		36
Total	£55,320.17		125

Golden Oldie Scheme

Rehoming elderly cats is never easy, but it is sometimes helpful if they are offered for adoption under the “Golden Oldie Scheme.” Often these cats have come into our care with ongoing health problems, such as hyperthyroidism, and therefore prospective owners would be unable take out pet insurance. People are encouraged to offer them a home if TVAW is responsible for future veterinary care. More cats are now being rehomed under the scheme and some cats, which were rehomed under the scheme several years ago, have required expensive ongoing treatment for age-related health issues such as heart problems. Several generous owners do not take advantage of the scheme and opt to pay for their cat’s treatment themselves, which is helpful as the cost this year is in excess of £30,000.

Vet Grant Scheme

We are finding that more people are struggling with the cost of vet treatment for their cat/s. The Vet Grant Scheme is used to help owners in emergencies, such as road traffic accidents, urgent infections, etc. If the help requested is for a cat, which is not currently neutered, we firmly suggest they use our Neutering Scheme as well. Rarely, we also may offer to help with the cost of microchipping. The Vet Grant Scheme has cost us just over £12,000 for the year.

Post Homing Scheme

We offer help with treatment for cats after homing because we are finding that more cats are requiring on-going medication, treatment or vet assessments after they leave foster care. If we do not help in this way, we would be unable to home some cats for long periods of time while their ailments are cured and that would result in the charity being unable to take in cats for care because the foster homes are full. Post Homing has cost us nearly £10,000 for the year.

Low Cost Neutering Scheme

Many of the vets recommend us to clients who approach us for help, as do several of the larger charities – the RSPCA and Cats’ Protection, particularly. Very few other charities offer this help nowadays and everyone we do help, is immensely grateful to us, proving how worthwhile this scheme is. The cost last year amounted to just over £2,500 but has hopefully saved us having to take in many more unwanted cats and kittens for re-homing. Much of the neutering has been carried out because of our volunteers going out at all hours of the day and night to trap cats

which reside locally in colonies and have become a nuisance to the local community. Sometimes these cats can be neutered and returned to the area but very many cats and kittens have been taken in for fostering, neutered, socialised and eventually re-homed as loving cats.

Lost and Found Register

Last year we made the decision to stop recording the lost and found cats, who were reported to us. There are now many ways to report lost and found cats – dedicated Facebook groups, local WhatsApp groups as well as local vets and rescue groups. People still report lost and found cats to us via email, phone calls and messenger. We are able to offer advice and frequently go out and scan cats. We are able to reunite some cats and others come into foster care, if we cannot find the owner.

Friends of TVAW

The Friends of TVAW was introduced in 1993 as a way of keeping people who are interested in our work informed of our activities. This is achieved by the publication three times a year of our newsletter “Paws for Thought.” We have more than 698 members and the newsletter is very well received. Subscriptions and donations from the Friends now form a substantial and very welcome proportion of our income.

TVAW’s Website

We are grateful to Pam Budd at Loud-n-Clear who updates our website for us on a weekly basis.

Financial

Thames Valley Animal Welfare is entirely dependent upon donations and its own fundraising efforts to finance its work. It does not own any land or buildings or employ any staff. Its work is carried out entirely by volunteers.

We should emphasise that the majority of expenditure by TVAW goes directly on the cats – very little is used for admin or office expenses.

Our main sources of income are donations, including Friends’ subscriptions, and our own fundraising activities – mainly sales and stalls at various local events plus the sale of our Christmas cards and calendars. We are grateful to Gerry Horrox and Claire Lawrence, two of our volunteers, who continue to raise funds by selling donated items for TVAW on eBay and Marketplace. Gerry also raises money through donations made via his own website. And to Ann Wells, who has raised much through organising sales in her local area.

Reclaiming Gift Aid creates a lot of work in terms of record keeping. After a break without a Gift Aid Secretary, we were grateful to accept the services of Claire Lawrence who has worked tirelessly since she took on the role and we generated a most welcome income of £5,764.15 for last year. Claire’s work will be reflected more accurately in next year’s Gift Aid receipts.

The fact that we still have healthy resenm due to th8 generosty of w supportws, has meant that we have been ab￿ continue to cover the inctsasingly expensive veterinary costs arKI maintain our commitments to our fosterers. Ho￿8Ver. ith expenditure conts'nuiThJ to rise. we review our levels of experKliture monthty as this contr'nues to b8 a source of con￿rn. Of particular c¥)ncem, is the r￿ed to plan for the replacement of some of our otder Lindee Lu cat houses. We have 16 Lindee Lu and 2 Quality fimber cath(xJses, some vknich are ov8r 10 years old. Even with regular timber treatment and maintenance the manufacturers do not expect them to last much beyond 15 years. To replace the smallest of our cath￿se6 at ￿Trent wices ¥wJld cost from £6,000 per uniL Acknowledgomgnts Onc again, very many people have helped TVAW financially vnth both large and small donations during tha year arKI small legaaes and donations in memory of relats'ves, fn'er￿8 or ￿. Ilthilst it is not possi1￿e to list all of them individually in this report. we would like to thank them all for their continued support. Our fosterers have been gratelul for the cat focAI. litter and tedding whith has been donated by mary of our supportern during the year - this is a tangible way in vthich Supporters can help us and fosterers find it very encouragir¥J to retsive such conth'lxrtions. Jean Phelan. ActiThJ Chair Date.. kl Hilary Westgarth, Treasurer Date: 3?. f. ZF Yvonrn Room, C(pordinator Y P (loa For and on behalf of the trustees Date:Il_q.I3

Thamw V411ry Anlmal Welfare Ch•ky NO￿•)616 AccouDts for the yeAr to 31 Mar¢h 2•22 41.22 pa￿￿1 Qlvlry S¢•ndiryIOrd￿ Cbn¢¢¢J TDMI, Uv4 Frf¢th, &les, ofstrtk Plypl, Oetys R￿￿rI1￿ CO1￿1Th9T1￿1. R 71.201.45 152.946.10 2.392.94 J,764.15 1,933. 67,786.10 124.610,77 448.61 9,453. 1,9)4. L4wi¢s In%¢ HMRC OIftAid mF•ym DIMI cknrtt•bh 11P￿dI1￿m Ad¥•rtlil o, 29,942.43 14.SOJ.31 Equ1￿1 Frywrhomo4Dd ¢xpnieJ V¢Mnw cl￿ts, Vtharnnts. Neutttthi SthAm¢, Pg Hcdrln& S¢h 14,433.W) I l J58.14 108.630.79 133 136.J6 83,599.41 109 393.OJ Olh•r Ixpp•dltsr• Fundrnliin8e¥¢ni ¢¢4 23. 4,185.61 133S.04 719.41 336.24 20.rrt) 4349.19 087.40 056.29 327.40 230205.72 Prof•iiIon￿ f¢# IPO PoKfftthk Chor•l Stock for R￿1¢ j￿1¢ liobillty IN￿1 ofirrtirfnel 7.46J.13 242.140.(X) rettsforlb•y• .147JJl.41 A¢lwl CA& JI JiOU7 t6&￿93

2-23 2fj21-12 M•etry AM•ts C&4h Bnd C￿h equivderts ot 31.0323 4S129.84 16&552.93 Totsl 451,129A4 163JSI.93 Mom•l•ry AM¢l¥ 16 Llnd¢¢ Lu rath￿6¢& 2 QuolityT1mlK￿￿ hous 14 Trop8 2 Remo Trapj 14 Larye Kitten P¢r 28 S¢￿¢r9 10 MlcTrK*ip Appl1￿11￿ Gu 2 IAoop Computeri I Teleplthe

21122-2023 2021-22 DI Dditu s￿irl¢ ¢ost$ incurrcd AllowAnGc for wsl homing trea￿thI Allowancc for Golden Oldie Sch¢m¢ Allowancc for Neuterin8 Schem¢ Allow&n¢c for Vet Grants 10.000.(K> 35.000. 10.000. 15.000. 4,0(KI.IM) 26.0(Xl.00 lo,(￿.00 15.tKK).00 Tol*l Illbllldei 7thIKKI.iXI 00 Jean Phelan, A¢iin8 Chair Dfjie 1_119123 Hilary W¢$t84rth. Tm$u Dale Forandon behal/of¢he fftijieej

Independent examiners report to the trustees of Thames Valley Animal Welfare “TVAW”

Registered Charity no. 900616

I report on the accounts of TVAW for the year ended 31 March 2023

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts.

The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to

• Examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act

• To follow the procedures laid down in the general directions given by the commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act

• To state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner’s reports

My examination was carried out in accordance with the general directions given by the charity 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 you as 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 next statement.

Independent examiners statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

1. Which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:

2. To keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 act and

3. To prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 act have not been met OR

4. To which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Martin Tucker

Name: Martin Tucker Date: 15 September 2023