There was a relaxed, almost holiday, atmosphere as we drove through Great Bentley last month, on our way to their Village Hall for our Autumn Fair. The mood extended to our event as an Indian Summer sun beat down on visitors arriving “en mass” – a fancy phrase I picked up from one of our volunteers! Lots of people stopped to make a fuss of me as my human friend, Nora, helped me greet local residents and those from surrounding towns and villages, some brought their dogs too. Thank you for making us feel so welcome and helping to raise nearly £3500 which is a record for us. See you next year!
We only have two more fundraising events now the season of mists and yellow fruitfulness is upon us. There will be bargains for friends, family and pets at our £1 Sale in Newton Green Village Hall, CO10 0QS, 11- 3pm on Saturday 12th October. We finish the year with our Christmas Fair, 10 – 3pm on Sunday 17th November at the Old School, Long Melford. That’s the time to start some early festive shopping.
Meanwhile, at the Sanctuary there are several dogs in need of new loving homes. One new arrival is Bruno, a two year old Jack Russell and Chihuahua cross. This little chap loves his walk and is fine with dogs his own size but afraid of bigger dogs, and will chase cats! He would best suit an adult only household or maybe one with older children only.
We have kittens for homing including some pretty tabbies but please give black and black/white cats a chance. They have just as much character, ask my opposite number, Ollie (the Black) Cat at SESAW!
The sun will be going down soon so it’s time to find a snug spot by the Rayburn for me, Kenny (the Boss) Chihuahua.
Suffolk & Essex Small Animal Welfare, Reg.Charity No.1124029, Stoke Road, Leavenheath, CO6 4PP. Tel: 01787 210888, www.sesaw.co.uk. Usually open 10 – 1pm Thursdat to Sunday inclusive.
If you haven’t signed up already, we will receive a £5 bonus for every person who signs up using this special link – just in time for your Christmas shopping!
We’re registered with #easyfundraising which means 4,000 well known shops and sites like eBay, Argos, Next, John Lewis & Partners, M&S & Just Eat will donate to us when you shop with them! Please sign up & raise money for us – it’s free to use and your shopping won’t cost you any extra!
“At Santander in Colchester High Street we like to celebrate Harvest by supporting local charities. In 2018 we supported Colchester Foodbank for people and this year wanted to support an animal charity.
We chose Sesaw, which is based just outside Colchester, as it is a small animal charity. They have brought us newsletters, pictures of animals to rehome, and a larger banner, with pictures of animals they help, to promote the charity.
We have an area in the branch for food donations, money donations, which Santander will double through their charity giving and to increase this further staff have been donating old books and all this money is also added for the charity.
To date we are so pleased with the customer response and are really pleased to support a lovely local charity, which do such great work”
Everyone is exhausted after working in stifling heat to prepare for our Open Day in July. The temperature was back to normal as visitors flowed in, many brought their ex-SESAW dogs to see those who had cared for them. Homemade cakes flew off the shelves and an appreciative audience sang along to well know songs performed by the Hadleigh Ukulele Group. Several declared they didn’t like ukulele music – until now! Most important to me and my pals was the Fun Dog Show and there were plenty of handsome entrants. Naturally I abstained to give the others a chance. We send a huge thank you to everyone who attended, helped or donated items for the event. A massive £4000 was raised which will help us look after the rescued animals at SESAW.
Next is our Autumn Fair on 15th September at Great Bentley Village Hall, CO7 8LG. There will be collectables, quality clothes and accessories, crafts and a big selection of books,CDs, DVDs, pet accessories, homemade snacks, refreshments – and you can meet me! Tables are available for outside stallholders at our Christmas Fair at the Old School, Long Melford on Sunday,17th November. Please visit www.sesaw.co.uk or call 07912 007617 to book your space. Much hard work goes into preparing for a sale and we are in need of people who could spare a few hours occasionally. If you could distribute posters, set up tables, unload the van, put up banners or just make the tea when we hold an event close to you, please call/text 07881 785535 or email info@sesaw.co.uk
We also need volunteers to help generally around the Sanctuary and care for the animals including Bella, an 18 month old lurcher. This lovable girl is as mad as a March hare, loves tummy tickles and cuddles, needs a couple of walks to let off steam before crashing and watching the world go by. Interacts well with similar sized dogs, not particularly interested in cats. Please get in touch if Bella is the dog for you, or if you would like to look after the cats, rabbits, chickens, sheep and dogs including me, Kenny (the Boss) Chihuahua.
Acknowledgement to Lizzie Ferdinando and Abbie Rossington for photos, and Holly Butler for the video!
This means Etsy, Uber Eats, Thomas Cook, HomeAway, Lakeland, Clarks and many more will donate TWICE as much to Suffolk & Essex Small Animal Welfare – SESAW when you use #easyfundraising to shop with them before 5th September – at no extra cost to you! Visit: http://efraising.org/RVdqHUDdCw
Where does that dog get his airs and
graces? Kenny asked me to write this month’s news because he is
“indisposed” with a bad leg. Anyone would think he had run the
Nayland10K! Over 900 people did take part and we send them and the
organisers a a great big THANK YOU. By mid July over £1600 was
raised for SESAW via JustGiving to help care for the many animals at the
Sanctuary.
We have more
people to thank, starting with the employees from Colchester based Informa
who helped prepare for our July Open Day. As you can see in the
photo, they were still smiling after a hard day’s work. Another willing group that helped us get
ready was the cheery gang from Colchester Pets at Home. Unfortunately, that was almost the hottest
day of the year and everyone was too exhausted to take a photo before they left. Nevertheless, they were also still smiling. We
welcome volunteers throughout the year, to help care for the animals or
fundraise. If you would like to join our fantastic team
please leave a message on the answerphone. Everyone has
something to offer, no special skills required – except a sense of humour!
Finally,
thanks also to Phil Goodyer for inviting us to the enjoyable 1940’s Vintage Day
in Sudbury. Over £100 on the SESAW book
stall and lots of people stopped to say hello including our volunteer Brenda
with her ex SESAW dog.
The hedgehogs
that Mother nursed through the winter have been safely released.
Dubbed the Gardener’s friend, they eat lots of pesky bugs but many die crossing
the road in their search for food. Providing cat or dog food
(WITHOUT fish) or dry hedgehog food from pet shops plus water each day may
encourage them to stay put. Cover ponds or create a means of escape
from the water, check bonfires before lighting and avoid using slug pellets,
It’s
dinner time so I’m off to the kitchen to see if Kenny has found his
feet. He needs to get better soon to write next month’s news
instead of me, Ollie (the Black) Cat.
Volunteers from Informa after a hard day’s workRegular volunteer Brenda with ex Sesaw dog Tye.
Let me
start with a big THANK YOU to The Shepherd at Langham for
supporting SESAW over the last six months.
The pub donated £371 from the proceeds of it’s Charity Quiz Nights. This is much appreciated and will help look
after the rescued animals.
Thank
you also to everyone who attended or helped at our £1 Sale at Newton Green. That includes the lovely ladies who baked some
tasty cakes which contributed to the £550 that was raised. We are also grateful to the organisers the Monks
Eleigh Dog Show and the 1940’s Vintage Day at the Delphi Centre for inviting us
to have stalls at their events.
We have yet another stall at the Eight Ash Green Music Festival on 20th July. A full day of musical entertainment to suit all tastes and ages. And the week after that – hurrah!! It’s our Open Day and Fun Dog Show on the 28th July when old friends and new join us for an afternoon of fun, food and furries! Once dubbed our “happiest day of the year”, visitors can browse, buy or simply enjoy the stalls of games, gifts, pet supplies, BBQ, refreshments, homemade cakes, ice cream and music from the Hadleigh Ukulele Group. Pooches can have a go at the Scurry and enter many classes including SESAW Dog of the Year, for those homed by us.
Most important of all, visitors can meet the animals, both residents and those looking for a new home.
Who, me?!
The paw prints in the wet cement incident is forgotten, in fact
I suspect Mum quite liked a four-footed autograph in the new path.
Now she is mystified over the sudden appearance of her missing spectacles at
her feet on the kitchen floor, having search high and low for two weeks!
All I can say is, don’t look at me, just because Chihuahuas have a reputation
for stashing trinkets!
It’s
cold and wet but I must pop outside to thank the friendly team of volunteers
from Waitrose. They spent two days sprucing up the Sanctuary
ready for our big day. Please visit us on the 28th, gate opens at midday. We will be ready to greet you, whatever the
weather. You might even see little old me, Kenny
(the Boss) Chihuahua.
