PREPARED BY JULIE JENKINS (COORDINATOR) ON BEHALF OF AND APPROVED BY ALL TRUSTEES Dated 0210112025 Signed 77 NORTHERN IRELAND STAFFORDSHIRE BULL TERRIER RESCUE (NISBTR) NIC101909 25 Rockfield Meadows Carrowdore Newtownards Co Down BT22 2WW TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT for year ended 31st March 2024 Trustees NISBTR has three Trustees. Its Trustees are Ms Julie Jenkins (Coordinator), Ms Jenny Frondigoun (Secretary) and Ms Jessica Green (Treasurer). The Coordinator of the charity has the power to appoint charity trustees. Trustees meet minimally three times per year which includes an Annual General Meeting (AGM). A private benefit arises for Ms Julie Jenkins (Coordinator) who is paid for 32 hours work per week at the government living wage of £11.44. Governin Document Our Governing Document has remained without any changes Sin￿ the Trustees Committee Meeting and combined AGM held on 30th March 2019. Any proposed changes to the Governing Document will be discussed and voted on at the charity's 2025AGM. Aims of the chari NISBTR has three main aims: 1. To rescue, rehabilitate and find new and loving homes for abandoned, unwanted, neglected and abused Staffordshire Bull Teiiieis. 2. To raise awareness of the plight of Staffordshire Bull Terriers, the relentless, unnecessary and irresponsible over-breeding of them, and to redress the balan￿ of negative press toward the breed. 3. To actively encourage responsible dog ownership. Overview of our work Established 2012, NISBTR is a breed specific dog rescue for Staffordshire Bull Terriers. It is not a 'physical' sanctuary where members of the public can vi8lt as it does not have a kennelling I boarding facility through choice. All our dogs are placed in loving fostei homes for assessment and until such time as we find them a permanent home. The charity's address 18 25 Rockfield Meadows, Carrowdore, Newtownards, Co Down BT22 2IMN. This is the home address of Julie Jenkins (Founder and Coordinator) and where all the charity's business Is conducted from. The dogs that come into our care come from three main sOur￿s. 1. Council Dog Pounds (including welfare cases) 2. Other all breed rescues 3. Surrenders from families under eX￿ptIOnal circumstances If they are not already, all our dogs are spayed and neutered at the earliest possible time to prevent even more unwanted puppiesldogs in the future. Many of our dogs come to us with behavioural issues, some minor, others more serious. We use our extensive experience of working with rescue dogs to correct these issues before they are rehomed by members of the public. We also have a fvlly qualified dog behaviourist, Mr Gary Holloway, to offer advi￿ and support even post-adoption. Our trustees and volunteers take every opportunity to encourage responsible dog ownership by members of the public by talking to them at our fundraising and awareness stalls. We also answer any requests for help and advice regarding dog welfare issues such as training and dietary requirements via email and telephone. Finances and fundraisin All our money is accrued from public donations, fundraising events and don2tinn made by external organisations. Our main fundraising activities include ballots, online auctions, entertainment evenings. car boot sales, street collections, strategically pla￿d collection tins e.g. shops and businesses, the sale of merchandise, and fundraising and awareness stalls. The number of supporters that donate to us via regular monthly payments to our bank account, via Just Giving and other social media plafforms continues to increase year by year. Our main expenditure is veterinary care. food. transportation and vehicle costs along with general running costs. Ordinary day-t(>day expenditure is agreed upon between the Coordinator and Treasurer. Any extraordinary expenses are put forward at our committee meetings or consent via email so that trustees can agree or disagree on them. The charity's full income and expenditure can be found in our receipts and payments accounts. Pur oses and ubli benefit As a charity we remain focused on our purposes and public benefit requirement. Each year we continue to maintain the purpose of NISBTR by continuing to provide a rehoming service to members of the public that also alleviates the cost of kennelling stray and unwanted dogs by city and borough councils throughout Northern Ireland. We continue to promote humane behaviour towards animals. In addition, we inform and educate members of the public about theii legal requirements as dog owners with reference to Dog Control Orders (DCO) and microchipping. Equally importantly, NISBTR has prevented additional abandonment and mistreatment of dogs that would otherwise be made homeless by offering support and advice to current and prospective owners. Incidental benefits arise for our chosen veterinary surgery Rathgael Veterinary Centre, Bangor, Co Down that provides most of the veterinary care for our dogs. A variety of other veterinary surgeries throughout Northern Ireland also provide veterinary care for our dogs. These benefits are in the foim of veterinary fees. Our charity considers the possibility of harm that may occur if any of our volunteers are bitten by a dog. However, this risk is far outweighed by the benefit of our work. We have never made a claim, but our charity has extensive Public Liability Insuran (PLI} should it ever be needed. Year ended March 2024- an overview The year ended March 2024 was a very suc￿Ssful one, especially in tems of the number of dogs that came into our care - 16 in total. With a very limited number of foster families at our disposal, this figure was indicative of the hard work and determination of all our volunteers to ensure that the charity reached its full potential. Out of the 16 dogs, 2 were mother and daughter, 2 were siblings, 2 were a bonded couple and 3 were very young puppies from the same litter. In addition, 2 of the dogs came from all-breed rescues as part of our commitment to assist other oiganisations in the same field of charitable work as ours. A total of 15 dogs were happily rehomed in the same period. As shown in the receipts and payments account for this period, the charity's income increased considerably from the previous year. However, this was partly counter balanced by the laige increase in the cost of veterinary bills. dog food and diesel. After the resignation of both the Secretary and Treasurer in September 2023, two new TrUSt￿S were nominated and voted onto the committee at the Lommittee Meeting dated 2911012023. Ms Jenny Frondigoun became the newly elected Secretary and Ms Caz Roberts became the newly elected Treasurer. Together, they brought lots of fresh ideas and initiatives particularly in relation to fundraiging. Sadly, the decrcase in the number of potential adoptive families Gontacting the ch2rity was a continuing trend. Despite increasing our profile on social media and using other methods of communicating the work we do as a charity it became very apparent that there was less interest from the public in adopting even though the numbers of requests for help in rehoming dogs increased. Another unfortunate trend was the increase in the number of dogs we re￿iVed into oui Gare that needed a great deal of rehabilitation. Their issues ranged from a total lack of training and fear aggression to poorfinadequate socialisation. Fortunately, due to the experience and knowledge the Trustees and volunteers have of the breed along with our personal dog behaviourist and trainer, Mr Gary Holloway who provides his ServI￿S free of charge, we were able to correct the unwanted behaviour and enable the dogs to become eligible for adoption. The charity has always managed its fInan￿S frugally and with great diligen￿ whilst maintaining the highest level and quality of care for its dogs. No overspends have ever been incurred. The financial support the charity has received over the years has been incredible. We continue to re￿1ve an enormous amount of financial support from one sponsor: Notorious Brands Ltd (Belfast). The generosity of their patrons has meant that we have been able to offset our rise in expenditure without compromising the services we offer and ultiTnately the number of dogs we can help. In September 2023 the charity held its first fundraising quiz night at HolyNood Social Club in Holywood, Co Down. The event was a huge Suc￿sS with all tickets sold and a total of £936.74 was raised to help us Gontinue our work. Our street Gollections remained popular and were a constant source of income for the charity. Part of the charity's purpose is to offer help and advi￿ to members of the public who may be experiencing behavioural issues in their dogs. We were (and continue to be) supportive of all families that contact us to ask for assistan￿. Challen es we face as a breed s ecific do rescue Sadly, the plight of Staffordshire Bull Terriers is not a new phenomenon and is ieflected throughout the UK. Rescues have been working tirelessly and beyond crisis levels for many, many years and despite their efforts the problem has only gotten worse. not better. INhilst there are some all-breed rescues that do help Staffordshire Bull Terriers there are many that do not. Prior lo the establishment of NISBTR there were no breed specific rescues for Staffordshire Bull Terriers in Northern Ireland, and to date, we remain the only one, making our rescue work even more important and in demand. A very sad indictment to the situation that our breed is increasingly facing is the evidence the charity has received trom numerous reliable sources that many of the all-breed doq rescues in Northern Ireland are no longer taking in Staffordshire Bull Terriers. The reason that families that are looking to rehome their dogls have been given is because the breed is very difficult to rehome and that no-one wants them. The fact that other rescues are using these excuses is not only alarming but also detrimental to the welfare of the dogs in general. Achievements to date Since August 2012 to date NISBTR has successfully rescued and rehomed 234 Staffordshire Bull Terriers that were in desperate need of our help, all whose lives have been changed for the better. In addition, the Ghaiity has assisted many more dogs that have remained in their original homes. We are immensely proud to maintain contact with most farTiilie5 that have adopted our dogs in the past and provide regular updates on their progress via our social media. Senior dog5 are typically more difficult to rehome than younger ones. To encourage more families to adopt senior dogs, NISBTR set up our Senior Stafford Scheme (SSS) in 2015. The scheme puts aside a pot of money for our dogs that are aged 8 years and above should it be needed for any unexpected veterinary bills post- adoption. Judging by the high number of senior dogs the charity has rehomed since its In￿ptIon the SSS has proven to be very effective. Plans for the future Despite the many challenges we fa￿ as a charity our vision for the future is very optimistic and with the continued support of those who value our charitable work, we will continue to build on the successes we have achieved over the last twelve and a half years. NISBTR is totally committed to helping as many dogs as possible in the future without the use of kennel facilities. An asserted effort to increase awareness of our charity and highlight the work we do using social media has already been implemented and we will continue to do so in the future. It is hoped that there will be an increase in donations to the charity after attaining a remote crediudebit card machine that can be transported to fundraising events and used to take donations over the telephone.