Life of Riley
As many of you know, we have retail stores in Kelso, Hawick and Galashiels, and exciting plans are afoot to relocate our Kelso shop to larger premises in the town square that will open soon. Managed by our team of staff and supported by our dedicated volunteers, our shops are an excellent way to be present within our local communities, keeping our cause at the forefront of people’s minds.
The shops are also a fantastic way to raise funds for our work, but we like to ensure we provide an excellent retail experience for customers in return. One of the ways we can do this is by complementing the range of pre-loved items we sell with new retail stock. We’re thrilled to announce over the summer we added new retail ranges such as the popular Life of Riley dog treats, including ice cream (all treats are grain-free and made with natural ingredients), along with a fun range of pet toys and accessories.
We’ll be updating these products for Halloween and Christmas too so pop in to see if there’s a seasonal treat or two for your beloved pet.
Centre Update
There’s always a project or two on the go at our Rescue Centre in Earlston, driven by our want to ensure the animals in our care are as happy and comfortable in their temporary home as possible. With comfort in mind, we recently upgraded our cat quarantine kitchen to modern standards, ensuring it is fit for purpose; this was quickly followed by a project to refurbish our small furries housing. Once this is complete, we look forward to sharing photos of the bunnies’ new abode.
Another need drives some projects; for example, following the end of the Government’s Energy Relief Scheme in October 2023, our energy bills over the winter at the Centre increased by 129%! The increase has meant we’ve had to think about ways to reduce our energy consumption, and we’re pleased to report we’ve completed the winter-proofing of the cats’ chalets, keeping the cats cosy – just the way they like! This is just a temporary measure and to meet future needs our team are designing a new accommodation block which we hope to share further details of, and start fundraising for, in the coming months.
Fundraising, Thank You
As a charitable organisation, we rely on the generosity of others to help fund our work. In this edition, we’d like to say thank you to:
Jackie Scotland & Barry Knitwear in Hawick
Quins of Galashiels
Jaxon, Charlie & David from Langlee Primary School
Kelso Breezers
Mike & Bridget at Borders Eco Flowers, Duns
Black Bull in Earlston
In addition, we are proud to be a Community Partner of Pets at Home in Galashiels, who have so far raised over £5,400 this year for us with their Santa Paws and Easter appeals. If you would like to fundraise on our behalf, please get in touch.
Animal Updates
The animals we care for are at the heart of everything we do and we know how much people love to hear updates about the progress they make during their time with us, and beyond. So, we decided it would be remiss of us to send a Borders Pet Rescue newsletter that didn’t include our animal updates.
Bella, the white cat who returned to us twice, has finally found her forever home.Bella has a feisty nature and is very choosey about people, so we’re pleased things are working well.
Frederick, the cat, was brought into our Centre needing treatment for a broken leg. After receiving treatment, he’s now fully healed and ready to find his new home.
Four orphaned hoglets were brought to the Centre and after some TLC from our dedicated staff, all four have been released back into the wild.
Summer Shows
As a team, we enjoyed spending time speaking with people from near and far at three of the region’s agricultural shows this summer. Firstly, we attended the Border Union Show in Kelso in July, when we raised over £700! Then we attended the Peebles Agricultural Show for the first time – it was great to meet so many new people in August, and finally, we returned to the Show at Paxton House last month. As animals are such a central theme for the Shows, we feel very at home. They are also an ideal opportunity to remind everyone about our essential (but very rewarding) work to support animals in the Borders.
