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HELLO
FRIENDS!
Welcome to Helping Paws. We are a group of people who raise money to help our animal friends.
Helping Paws was conceived on the side of a dusty lane in the Algarvean hills back in 2013. A chance meeting with a wonderful lady who rescues dogs in Portugal resulted in my raising funds to bring dogs to the UK via our local RSPCA branch.
However, things change, and some years ago we took the decision to stop rehoming dogs and instead focus our fundraising efforts in helping small rescues and rescuers both here in the UK and overseas.
One of our main focuses is helping small rescues with vets bills, paying for spaying and neutering and during the pandemic paying for food.
Over the years we have done all sorts of things to raise money; from days like today, to fire walks, art exhibitions and online auctions, and I am proud to tell you that since we started we have raised half a million pounds! We have also fundraised for specific causes – for example we held a bingo evening to raise money for the animals on Kangaroo Island in Australia during the bush fires; we held an auction to pay for a retirement village for old dogs in Portugal and more recently have held several fundraising events to help the animals (and people) in Ukraine.
We are not a registered charity and this is a deliberate decision. It means that EVERY SINGLE PENNY we raise goes to the animals. There are no admin or accountants fees or salaries.
We are always looking for volunteers to help in any way they can, and, of course, all donations are very welcome.
WHAT
WE DO
We are a fundraising group who help raise money for animals in need all over the world. We are a bunch of volunteers and do this in our spare time, we all have full time jobs.
One of our main focuses is helping small rescues with vets bills, paying for spaying and neutering and paying for food for street animals across Europe.
Over the years we have done all sorts of things to raise money; from days like today, to fire walks, art exhibitions and online auctions, and I am proud to tell you that since we started we have raised half a million pounds!
We have also fundraised for specific causes – for example we held a bingo evening to raise money for the animals on Kangaroo Island in Australia during the bush fires; we held an auction to pay for a retirement village for old dogs in Portugal and more recently have held several fundraising events to help the animals (and people) in Ukraine.
We are not a registered charity and this is a deliberate decision. It means that EVERY SINGLE PENNY we raise goes to the animals. There are no admin or accountants fees or salaries. This also means we do not get any government support and do not have an advertising budget, so we rely on word of mouth and days like today for all of our fundraising.
We are always looking for volunteers to help in any way they can, and, of course, all donations are very welcome.
FUNDRAISERS
Join us on Sunday 7th September for Helping Paws annual Fun Dog Show!
Held at the Saltdean Oval Park, it's a great day out for you and your furry friend. As well as the dog show itself, with 10 different classes for your pooch to enter, we have lots more going on. There are dog games, stall for you to browse - including the famous Helping Paws tombola! - plus food stalls and a bar.
The dog show classes are listed on the above flyer and timings can be found on our online entry page. The winner of each class gets entered into 'Best in Show' and there is prize of a pet portrait for the winner.
OUR EVENTS
2nd Tuesday of each month; Our pub quiz at the Plough Inn, in Rottingdean, from 8pm.
7th September: Helping Paws Annual Fun Dog Show, Saltdean Oval
ABOUT
KAREN
A MESSAGE FROM KAREN
"Over the years I have spent a lot of time overseas and as an animal lover often found myself rescuing abused, sick or abandoned animals.
About 25 years ago, I was in Portugal and spotted a poor little dog shivering in the corner. She was so thin and her eyes looked so sad, I knew I couldn’t simply feed and leave her so I took her back to the villa I was staying in. She was a wreck, filthy dirty, with cigarette burns and chewing gum stuck to her coat. She allowed me to bath her and tolerated sitting on my lap for strokes but did not stop trembling and looking anxiously around the room.
By chance, the friend I was staying with had an Italian lady also staying in the villa – she spoke no English. This lady saw me with the little dog, quietly came over and without saying a word placed her hands over the dog – without touching her. The result was quite literally life changing for me. That dog let out an enormous sigh and fell fast asleep, totally relaxed for the first time in I don’t know how long.
The plan was for little Rato (which means mouse in Portuguese) to come back to the UK to live with me but in the six months required for quarantine she stayed with Judy, a dear friend of mine. Those two ladies fell in love and it would have been impossible to separate them, so Rato stayed with Judy until she died – by chance on the very same day as I started my Healing Animals Diploma Course – I have often wondered if she felt her work here was done!
What I witnessed that day got me thinking and I came back to the UK wondering if I too could help animals in the same way as that the wonderful Italian lady had done. Shortly after that I discovered Reiki and became a practitioner for humans. Some years later through my work with the RSPCA I heard about Elizabeth Whiter and the Healing Animals Organisation – another life changing experience.
I went on to complete the diploma course in small animals and finally found a way of combining the knowledge I had gained over the years. A fellow student on the course recommended James French and the Trust Technique which lead me to animal communication – another light bulb moment.
That is my story so far but I am sure it has only just begun and I know I owe it all to that one little dog!
KEEPING
IN TOUCH
EMAIL LIST
Join our email mailing list to ensure you never miss out on any important dates, events or Helping Paws news!
CONTACT HOURS
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Monday - Saturday
All of our volunteers have full time jobs, so there is sometimes a delay in responding to your message