Caithne55
Caithness Seal Rehab & Release
Trustees, Annual Report
Period From 2811212023 to Period End
3111212024

Charity contact information
Coithnws
Caithness Seal Rehab & Release
Scottish Charity Number: SC052004

Chari
Trustees

Ob"ectives and activities
The organisation's purposes are..
(al The advancement of education, wrth the teaching of what species of
along the Caithness coastline, their habitsts, the behaviours and ho
protect them.
(bl The saving of marine mammal lives, in particular Pinnipeds, by resc
if warranted and uplifting them to a safe environment for rehabilitation.
(c) The advancement of the arts, hentage, culture or science, by reco
moniloring seal populations already present and those that are r
released.
(d) The advancement of environmental protection or improvement, by
vulnerable areas, feed availability and pups bom.
lel The advancement of animal welfare.
(o The rescue, protection, treatment, rehabilrtats'on. and release of sick
Pinnipeds.
Caithness Seal Rehab & Release is the only seal rehabilitation centre in Ca
& Sutherland. We cover a vast area along the whole of the east coast down
as Tain but have received a pup from Fraserburgh this year. We cover the
the north coast as far along as Durness, and then down the west coast as f
Ullapool. We also receive pups from the Isle of Skye and the Isle of Lewis.
We work together with BDMLR and the SSPCA.
eals are
we can
ng them
ing and
cued &
nitoring
r injured
hness
as far
hole of
ras
Members of the public come across a seal pup on the beach, they contsct
or BDMLR or the SSPCA. One of our volunteers will go out and assesslexa
pup to see if rt needs to come into our care.
direct
ine the

Structure
overnance and mana
ement
eof
overnin
document
We a￿ a Scottish Charitsble Incorporated Organisation. SCVO Model SCI
Constitution (single tier).
The principal office of the organisation will be in Scotland (and must remain
In Scotland).
The name of the organisation is °CAITHNESS SEAL REHAB & RELEASE"
A Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisab'on is a legal structure which h
s been
purpose built for the charity sector in Scotland. It provides limited liability and a
separate legal identity to organisations that want to become chanties but do not
want or need the complex structure of company law. This means that even t
smallest charity can a￿sS the benefits of incorporation - induding limited I
and legal capacity.
cio)
bility
Trustee recruitsnent and a
ointsnent
The board may at any time appoint any person. and providing
they are not debarred, to be acharity trustee - by way of a
resolution passed by majority vole at a board meeting.
At the condusion of the first AGM, one third (to the nearest round number)
charity trustees shall retire from office; the question of which of them is lo re
be detemined by some random method.
At the conclusion of each AGM (other than the first) any charity trustees ap
during the period since the pre￿dIng AGM (but exduding those re-appoint
clause O during that period) shall retire from offi￿.
The charty trustees to rets're under paragraph (b) of clause O shall be those
have been longest in Offi￿ since they were last appointed or re-appointed,
between persons who were last appointedlre-appointed on the same date, t
question of which of them is to rets're shall be determined by some random
A charity trustee who retires from Offi￿ under clause O or O at the conclusio
AGM shall be eligible for re-appointrnent under clause O at the next board m
the
re shall
inted
under
ho
thod.
of8n
eting.

A charity trustee vacalin9 office at the Cor￿lUSIon of an AGM will be deeme
been re-appointed at the board meeling which next follows unless:
a. They advise the board that they do not wish to be re-appointed, or
b. A resolution for the re-appointment of that charity trustee was put to t
meeting and was not carried.
The individuals who s￿ned the charty trustee dedaration forms which acco
the application for incorporation of the organisation shall be deemed to hav
appointed by the members as charity trustees with effect from the date of
incorporation of the organisation.
to have
board
panied
been
ur Tru
are:

Achievements and perforniance
Caithness Seal Rehab & Release, the hospital, officially opened its doors o
November 2022. Since opening the hospital doors, we have admitted 80 se
both grey and common seal pups. In addition to this we have monitored an
relocated seal pups if necessary. The number of pups is increasing every y
mostly down to human disturfoance, though bad weather does play its part.
We were nominated for the Nature Scot awards in 2024 but unfortunately di
not
make it on to their short lists for an award. We were also nominated on the
cottish
Land and Estate awards but again, never made it onto the short list. Hopef
ly we will
make it onto the shortlist for the Highland Hero Awards which will be award d in
2025.
the 1$t
I pups,
ar
We a￿ still receiving seal pups from th8181e of Lewis and the Isle of Harris,
as the occasional one from Isle of Skye and Ui8t. One of the big successes
is the training of marine medics in the care and wellbeing of seal pups. A n
holding station has been opened on the Isle of Lewis mann8d by staff we h
ve
trained. This holding centre tak8s in rescued pups and rehydrates them ov
night
ready for safe travel the next day on a fery over to the mainland and up to ¢ur
hospital for rehabilitation. Our other big success has been in helping the ssPcA
formulate a new feeding regime for the common pups they get in. This new kegime
h8s proved very successful and their survival rates for the pups has inC￿8S
enormously.
This year we are working in collaboration with the Royal Veterinary College
on v8terinary students for practical experience and for research purposes.
great partnership, and we hope it carries on into the future. We are also tsk
students from Glasgow University and Aberdeen University that are studyin
their PhD in marine mammal conservation or medicine.
s well
his year
aking
hisisa
gon
for
We have a permanent group of about ten volunteers that help out during e
pupping season throughout the year. These are all local volunteers from th
surrounding communities. This y6ar we have accommodated volunteers fro
various countries, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, USA, Australia, New Zeal
and Poland. We hope to carry this type of volunteer work into the future.
local
nd

The hospitsl is not-for-profil. and we rely entirely on donakn'ons from the publ
order lo look after and feed the pups we get in. Feeding the seals pups is th
expensive part of the work we do. We can use up to five tonnes of fish, or
pupping season and all of this must be paid for by donations we receive.
cin
most
re, per

Financial review
Donations from members of the public, from December 2023 to December
has been fantastic yet again. We have received approximately £32,000.00 .
donations, which includes approximately £19,000.00 raised on our Crowd F
page. Approximately £10,000.00 of this has been spent on the purchase of
approximately £6600.00 on veterinary fees, £356.00 on insurance. We now
an Animal Welfare Establishment Licence through the council which costs
The new quarantine building and new swimming pool have cost approximat
£10,000.00, money w811 spent for a building that is absolutely necessary.
spent about £9000.00 on equipment and consumables. This does not inclu
running costs, electricity, water etc.
We have received £5000.00 in funding from Dounreay Community Fund for
remainder of the new build and £2000.00 in funding from the Jean Sainsbu
Wildlife Trust for running costs (purchase of some fish)
024
nder
sh,
ave
5.00.
ly
have
any
he
Statement of the chari
nre
We do not hold reserves at Ihe moment. Ideally, we would like to hold a res
atleast £3000.00, hopefully we can achieve this in the future.
rve of
Detsils of an
deficit
There are no deficits.
Donatsd faciliti
8 and Services
We have had no donated services or facilities.

Future
lan8
All improvements have been made to the hospital for the time being. In
ddition
to this we have built a new quarantine building that can house three seal pups.
This will be used when pups arrive at the hospital before they go into th ICU
building. Pups will be cared for separately to prevent contamination an
spread
of disease.
We have also installed a new fibreglass pool; we now have Iwo pools f
seal pups.
There are no future plans for the moment, we do not foresee adding ne
buildings to house more seals as we seem to be just about coping with what we
have. Should there be an increase in pups then we may need to think a
out
more buildings.
rthe
Additional infomlation
We would like more support from the local council. So far they have shown
support whatsoever.

Declaration
Signed on behalf of the charity trustees..
Fwnderlmanagerrrrustee
Designation
Date
11

Caithness Seal Rehab & R
004
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and
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Inde
ndent Examiner's Re
ort to the Trustees of
Caithness Seal Rehab & Release
Scottish Chari
re
islration number SC052(104
I report on the accounts for the period ended 31 December 2024 which are set out on ihe followi
pages
Respertive responsibilities ol trustee5 and examiner
The charity'5 trusiees are responsible lor the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the t4rms
ol the Charities and Trusiee Investment (Scotlandl Aci 2005 the Charities AccoLJnts (Scotlandl
Regulations 2006 as amended by ihe Charities Accounts (Scotlandl Amendmeni Re8ulaiions 2010.
The charily trustees consider that the audit requirefflent of Regulalion Iolllldl of the Accounts
Regulations does not apply It Is my responsibility to exarnine the accounts as required under
section 441 Illcl of the Act and to state whether particular matters have come lo my attention.
Basis of independent examiner's Stalement
My examination was carried out In accordance with Regulation I l of the Charities Account5 Iscotl
Regulations 2006. An examination Includes a Teview ol the accounting records kept by the charity
a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. li also includes consideration of anv
unusual items or disclosures in the aciounis, and seeks explanations from the trustees concerning
such matters. The procedures vnderlaken do not provide all the evidente which would be required
an audii, and consequently l (lo noi express an audit opinion on the v¢ew given by ihe accounts_
ny
in
Independent examiner's statement
In the course ol my examination. no matter ha5 come to my ottention
l. which gives me reasonable cause lo believe that in any ni3ierial respect the requirement5'.
to keep accounting records In accordance with Section 44llllal of the 2￿5 Aci and
Regulalion 4 of the 2W6 Accovnts Regulations, and
to prepare account5 which accord with the accounling records and comply with Regulalion
9 of the 2(K)6 Account5 Regulations have noi been met, or
2. to which, in my opinion. attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understandin8 of
the accounts lo be reached.
Victor T Fraser & Co Limited
Chartered Accoijntants
3-4 Market Place
Wick
Caithness
KWI 4LP
Date
12