2023-08-31-annual-report - Rainbow Rehoming Centre

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Rainbow Rehoming Centre Financial Statements For Year Ended 31 August 2023_________

Report of the trustees for the year ended 31 August 2023

The trustees are pleased to present their report together with the financial statements and independent examiner’s report for the year ended 31 August 2023.

Reference and administration details

Name	Rainbow Rehoming Centre
Charity Number	NIC 102019
Company Registration Number	NI051496
Principal Address	4g Ballygudden Road
	Eglinton
	Londonderry
	BT47 3AF
Independent Examiner	Laurie Duffy FCA
	L Duffy & Co
	Chartered Accountants & Registered Auditors
	12 Queen Street
	Derry
	BT48 7EG
Bankers	Danske Bank
	127 Glenshane Road
	Londonderry
	BT47 2LN
Trustees
Barbara Lowry	Chair
Mary McGrory	Secretary
Anna Hyndman
Martha McClelland
Christina McClements

Structure, governance and management

The company is a company limited by guarantee. The company is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association.

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Rainbow Rehoming Centre Financial Statements For Year Ended 31 August 2023_________

Objectives and activities

Since 1997, the main focus of Rainbow Rehoming has been to help stray, abandoned and unwanted cats and dogs, mainly in and around the North West of Ireland.

Rainbow Rehoming Centre believes that all cats and dogs deserve a good life and a safe, loving home.

Rainbow Rehoming Centre exists:

To care for stray, abandoned and unwanted cats and dogs until their forever homes are found, no matter how long it takes
To provide the best possible welfare for all the cats and dogs that come into our care
To educate the public about responsible cat and dog ownership

Rainbow Rehoming Centre aspires to provide a safe place for stray, abandoned and unwanted cats and dogs. We provide the highest standards of welfare for all the animals in our care. We are a big family, made up of our cats and dogs, staff, adopters, volunteers, supporters - all changing lives together. We're proud to say that an RRC cat or dog is always an RRC cat or dog, and we are committed to providing support for them throughout their lives.

Performance and achievements

We are overjoyed that another 226 RRC residents are now enjoying a new home with their adoptive families. These families are sharing the joys of offering a rescued animal their new beginning, promoting the ethos of 'adopt don't shop' with their families, friends, and communities.

It's important that we find the right home for our cats and dogs; this can be challenging due to some of the needs of the animals'.

This year saw a record number of cats and dogs seeking a rescue space. There was an increase in the numbers of owned cats, however, the majority of the cats were stray with an increase in the number of un-neutered males. The majority of dogs were owned pets and there was a dramatic increase in the number of bull-breeds.

95% of the cats and dogs that came into our care were not neutered, micro-chipped, vaccinated nor had up to date parasite treatments. We continue to see an increase in the number of dogs that have had no basic training or socialising with other dogs or the world around them, resulting in an increase in dogs that are traffic reactive. Not researching the breed remains the main reason for surrendering dogs, followed by moving house, increase in work hours, new child at home and affordability.

We've also had a record number of neglect cases come into our care this year. The majority of them were pet dogs and all the cat cases were strays.

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Rainbow Rehoming Centre Financial Statements For Year Ended 31 August 2023_________

We continue to see an increase in requests from the public seeking help with feral cats. Our volunteer cat trapper has been kept very busy and remains committed to wanting to change lives, by actively working alongside the public to get these cats neutered and the prospect of a better life.

We had another successful year at our two main annual events, Spooky Paws Walk the Walls and Pooches in the Park which now has a new venue at City of Derry Rugby Club. We continue to have door collection days at Jollyes Derry/Londonderry and Pets at Home Derry/Londonderry where we are their 2023 charity of the year.

Our online fundraising continues to be one of our main sources of income.

Our supporters and public reach on our social media platforms continue to increase. As well as sharing appeals about the animals in our care, we continue to share educational and awareness posts as this provides an opportunity to inform the public on animal welfare and help and advice for pets, not only for dogs and cats but other pets and wild animals.

We've seen a decrease in the number of volunteer requests, but our long-term volunteers continue to be the backbone of our charity. It's thanks to their dedication that we continue to be the largest cat and dog rescue in the Northwest.

We started our 'Let’s Talk Cats' door to door leaflet drops to try and reduce the numbers of cats, by informing the public on the benefits of neutering and the financial support that is available.

This year our staff and volunteers had the opportunity to attend dog training classes organised by Dogs Trust at their Centre in Ballymena. They also got the opportunity to attend hands-on Canine First Aid with Fitzcharles Training Ltd.

We also attended the first ever Northern Ireland Welfare Forum organised by Dogs Trust.

We have updated our animal surrender, assessment and medical record paperwork which we use when a dog or cat comes into our care and during their stay.

We got a new logo and branding gifted to us by the Graphic Design team at a local business called Learning Pool.

Contributing to the Community

We offer help, support and advice to members of the public who have encountered an injured, sick or straying cat or dog or to owners who have made the decision to rehome their pet. We also deal with concerns of missing pets, animal cruelty and feral cats living in our catchment area.

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Rainbow Rehoming Centre Financial Statements For Year Ended 31 August 2023_________

We promote positive relationships between our local communities, other animal rescue communities and our RRC family by interacting with one another at our events or on our social media platforms.

We offer a variety of volunteer experiences at our rehoming Centre and off-site. Our network of over forty volunteers work together with the aim of making life better for animals and the people who love them.

We also work in partnership with other animal organisations and many of our volunteers carry out home checks on behalf of these organisations.

For many years RRC volunteers have worked extremely hard alongside the public to reduce the high numbers of feral cats and they are dedicated, not only to feral cat welfare, but also to helping the communities they visit.

In addition to these public benefits there are a number of private benefits as a result of the services that we provide. Local businesses benefit from the activities generated by the Centre as we use local suppliers of animal related goods and we utilise local veterinary practices.

As a local employer the RRC is helping to provide employment in an area that has one of the highest levels of unemployment in the North of Ireland.

Educating the Community

We are passionate about educating the public about responsible cat and dog ownership and other animal welfare issues. We continue to do this through our social media platforms and via articles in the local press. We welcome every opportunity to engage with visitors to our Centre and at our events.

We offer information to the public on the five freedoms of animal welfare and highlight the importance of using these freedoms to identify and report any animal they believe is being subjected to cruelty. We also educate the public about the agencies to whom they should report animal cruelty.

We continue to educate the public on the importance of neutering feral/wild cats and how this will help to reduce their numbers.

Future Plans

We will continue to search for a site for a new Rainbow Rehoming Centre.

We plan to finally get our new website up and running.

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Rainbow Rehoming Centre Financial Statements For Year Ended 31 August 2023_________

We will continue our 'Let’s Talk Cats' leaflet drops and start a community campaign to help reduce the numbers of unwanted cats by promoting the benefits of neutering and the financial support that is available.

We plan to review and update our cat and dog adoption paperwork.

We plan to provide a new ‘Ways to Support Us’ leaflet.

Financial review

The charity has had another successful year. In this difficult economic climate, the charity’s income was £174,017 (2022 - £145,606) and there was a surplus of income over expenditure of £20,995 (2022 – deficit of £19,182).

Reserves policy

The trustees have established the level of reserves (that is those funds that are freely available) that the charity ought to have. Reserves are needed to bridge any funding gaps that may occur and should be maintained at the equivalent of 3 months expenditure in order for the charity to continue its activities. Unrestricted reserves at the 31 August 2023 were £57,546 (2022 - £47,410).

Statement of Compliance

The Directors of the RRC, in the setting of our objectives and in the planning of our activities for this year, have given due care and attention to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland's guidance on public benefit and thus ensuring that the activities have helped to achieve the charity's purposes.

Legal Status

The Rainbow Rehoming Centre is a Company Limited by Guarantee and not having a share capital.

Governing Document

The charity is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 18 August 2004 and each member agrees to contribute £1 in the event of the charity winding up.

Risk Management

The Directors actively review the risks and uncertainties that the charity faces and establishes policies and procedures to mitigate these risks.

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Rainbow Rehoming Centre Financial Statements For Year Ended 31 August 2023_________

Statement of trustees' responsibilities

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.

The law applicable to charities in Northern Ireland requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for the year. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP 2015 (FRS 102);
make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the trustees are aware:

there is no relevant audit information of which the charity’s auditor is unaware; and
the trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.

Independent Examiners

A resolution will be proposed at the AGM that L Duffy & Co be re-appointed as independent examiners to the charity for the ensuing year.

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustee’s report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees on 20 February 2024 by

Anna Hyndman Barbara Lowry 20 February 2024 (Chairperson)

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