Chesterfield animal rescue charity forced to close as donations dry up

An animal rescue charity based in Chesterfield has closed its doors temporarily after seeing their income plummet.
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The Chesterfield Animal Rescue has only received £120 in donations this year.

They currently have a debt of £936.70 that they need to pay off before taking in any more animals and so have taken the difficult decision to pause their services for the time being.

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Rachel Bradley, a trustee at the charity, said Covid had impacted their ability to fundraise, and that the charity receives no funding other than public donations.

Chesterfield Animal Rescue is urging residents to support them with donations and fundraising events.Chesterfield Animal Rescue is urging residents to support them with donations and fundraising events.
Chesterfield Animal Rescue is urging residents to support them with donations and fundraising events.

“It’s scary- we’ve really struggled with Covid as we've not been able to do any fundraisers. We’re hoping to get some more events booked in, but it’s just as and when we can get venues and volunteers to help.

“Every single penny goes to the animals, nobody takes a wage - without public donations we would have nothing. The volunteers pay for as much as they can, but we have our own families and animals that we need to support as well.”

Rachel said the current level of donations was considerably lower than the charity’s monthly outgoings, with thousands being spent on vet bills alone.

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“Normally in a month, we have to pay storage costs, phone bills, insurance, we have to hire vans at times. We normally spend around £3000 a month on vet bills. There’s a lot more going out than there is going in at the moment.

“At one point we had 22 cats, 19 dogs, 41 rabbits, 29 chickens- some manage to get into foster homes before they’re adopted, which is brilliant, but sometimes we have to use kennels for emergencies, which is an extra expense as well.”

The charity has urged anyone who is able to organise a fundraiser, or who has access to a suitable venue, to contact them as soon as possible. Contact details for the charity can be found on their website here.

Donations can be made via bank transfer to the Chesterfield Animal Rescue, which is a registered charity. For those wanting to donate, the rescue’s bank details are here: Sort code 20-20-50 and account number 93038009, or via PayPal to [email protected]

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