A Year Since Our Face-lift!
July 25th 2026
This time last year we had just begun renovation work on our charity shop. You can see some before and after images over on our social media pages and it’s safe to say it was quite the transformation.
We had to update the lighting and flooring so took the opportunity to refresh the whole space, changing the layout, introduced a new colour scheme, refreshing the window bays and creating more display space and a much-needed changing room! We had so many kindly donated elements, including plastering, paint and display equipment and materials, all of which made the transformation possible.
Since then, the new shop has gone from strength the strength and is busier than ever, helping to raise essential funds which allows us to continue providing refuge to all the cats and kittens that come into our care.
It’s now time for us to expand our retail team and we’ve been looking for additional volunteers to work in our beautiful and busy charity shop.
Morning or afternoon shifts are available throughout the week, as well as Saturdays. We’d also love to be able to open the shop on Sundays to benefit from regular footfall when the local area is bustling with people visiting nearby cafés, bars and restaurants but need some new, reliable volunteers to make this possible.
If you’re interested in joining the retail team, enjoy interacting with people and have a creative eye then please do get in touch. If you and a friend would like to work together in the shop and have a few hours to spare each week, this could also be the perfect opportunity to put your skills to good use whilst giving something back to the local community.
If you have a background or interest in fashion, this could also be a great opportunity for you. We always need help sorting through donations, creating interesting displays and having the imagination to put together eye-catching outfits for the windows and mannequins.
How Vaccinations Protect Our Feline Friends
Standard kitten vaccinations are carried out at 9 and then 12 weeks old and provide essential protection against Cat Flu, Calicivirus and Parvovirus, conditions that can cause pain, permanent damage such as blindness and even be fatal.
We’ve treated cats with all of these conditions, witnessed the unnecessary suffering and experienced the pain when a cat is needlessly lost.
Recently, beautiful Domino and her five lovely kittens tested positive for Calicivirus and are being treated alongside our Vet Team.
This virus, which results in a severe cold, is easily spread if not contained and is extremely uncomfortable for the cats who suffer it.
Symptoms include fever, mouth ulcers, sneezing, conjunctivitis as well as a loss of appetite and exhaustion. More serious cases can also result in difficulties breathing, limping and ongoing ulcers and painful gums and teeth which sometimes need to be removed. An awful experience for any animal.
This suffering is unnecessary and preventable by vaccinating kittens (approx. £110) and then keeping cats up to date with their annual boosters, which typically costs around £70 per year.
The treatment for Domino and her babies will take weeks and will hopefully be a complete cure but costs the charity around £1000 per cat which is a huge amount compared to the cost of preventative vaccination.
If you’d like to donate to the cost of treatment for Domino and her babies, you can find our bank details here on our website or alternatively via Donate buttons on our Social Media pages.
Recent Fundraising Work
We recently made some changes to our regular Jumble Sales to better align them with our fund-raising needs.
To cover the cost of putting these events on, we have introduced a £1 per adult Entrance Fee which contributes to the Hall Hire.
Whilst the bake sale pricing remains unchanged, we have simplified the pricing of Jumble, with all items now being just 50p each. Although some clothing categories have increased a little in price, several other categories have actually reduced in price to even everything out at just 50p. Not only does this make things a lot easier for our volunteers on the day, it also means there are so many incredible bargains to be found. Thank you to everyone who came to our recent Jumble Sale, we appreciate your continued support!
Our next Jumble & Bake Sale is planned for Sunday 6th September at St Pauls Church Hall.
We ran a World Cup Raffle with a super-sized Hamper up for grabs. The raffle was drawn on 17th July in time for the lucky winner to come in and collect their hamper before the final match was played the following day.
Thanks to everyone who entered, we were able to raise over £300.
Cat Updates
Baby Twiglet is doing well and no longer looking like a baby! His surgery seems to have been a success and he continues to grow and do really well under the care of his wonderful Foster Mum Zoe. We had a huge and heart-warming response to the social media fundraiser for Twiglet. The care he needed was exceptional and our supporters were brilliant in their kindness and generosity which meant we were able to provide Twiglet with his life-saving treatment.
We’re so happy to share that love-bug Carrie is now fully recovered and available for adoption. Carrie came in with severe and persistent skin infections from being a stray and coped so well being kept in Isolation during her prolonged but necessary treatment. She’s such a lovely cat and we look forward to her finding her forever home, with all the cuddles she needs, very soon.
Kittens Maia and Iris who were found abandoned in a box down an alleyway are also now ready for adoption, they are such a sweet but mischievous pair and will hopefully soon be exploring their new home and garden!
Make sure to follow us on Facebook on Instagram, where you can see more news updates and behind the scenes. We also have a dedicated Facebook Page for Adoptions so if you’re looking to adopt a cat from us in the future, please follow that page as it’s the first place we announce cats and kittens that are ready for adoption applications.
More updates to follow soon!
The Heatons Cats Team x