We’re thrilled to announce our support of The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (The Scottish SPCA).
Our colleagues are getting involved with a range of activities and challenges over the coming months, beginning with the Pounds for Paws fundraiser which saw staff run and walk 30km in 30 days over the month of August.
We’re delighted to continue our longstanding relationship with the Scottish SPCA, who we previously worked with to jointly promote the redevelopment of the former National Wildlife Rescue Centre at Middlebank in Dunfermline.
You can follow our colleagues’ progress on all of our supporting activities here.
Pounds for Paws Digital Fundraiser
The “Pound for Paws” campaign, with Olympian Laura Muir as ambassador, challenged participants to run a minimum of 30km in 30 days throughout August. Like most charities, a key challenge for the Scottish SPCA is overcoming the additional hurdles brought about by COVID-19, reducing its ability to raise money through physical events.
Pound for Paws saw participants sign up and fundraise online while tracking progress using one of many popular fitness apps, such as MapMyRun, Fitbit or Strava. Laura provided free top tips for all involved to help them hit their targets.
Anna Devine, Director of Fundraising and Marketing at the Scottish SPCA, said: “At a time when we are facing unprecedented challenges, this show of support from the Cala team means the world to us. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we have continued to carry out vital work rescuing and rehabilitating animals in need. This year, our inspectors and animal rescue officers have responded to an average of more than 200 reports of animals requiring urgent help every single day whilst our National Wildlife Rescue Centre is admitting huge numbers of injured wild animals on a daily basis too. We have been doing our job in spite of coronavirus, but many of the means we use to generate the income which funds our work have been disrupted by the pandemic. We have had to completely revamp our fundraising activity and substitute community and events fundraising with virtual or online events such as Pound for Paws.”
Headquartered in Dunfermline, Fife, the Scottish SPCA is a 180-year-old national animal welfare charity which champions animal welfare and the prevention of cruelty to animals. The charity is wholly funded through donations and its work encompasses everything from community work and education to rescuing and re-homing animals across the country.
Cala Homes (East) has a longstanding relationship with the Scottish SPCA, having jointly promoted the redevelopment of the former National Wildlife Rescue Centre at Middlebank in Dunfermline. The site closed in 2010, following a relocation to Fishcross near Alloa, and The Scottish SPCA hopes to realise funds from the sale of the former wildlife centre to Cala Homes.
Derek Lawson, Strategic Land Director at Cala Homes (East), said: “We’re thrilled to see the first online event come to life through Pound for Paws. We’d like to wish all the participants the best for their 30km challenge in August.”
Cala Homes supported the Scottish SPCA with its first ever virtual campaign, Pounds for Paws. To find out more about the Scottish SPCA, visit www.scottishspca.org/
Derek Hamilton, Commercial Director at Cala Homes (East)
Getting involved with Pounds for Paws this year has been a fantastic outlet for myself, my daughter Sophie and my mother-in-law Betsy. I’ve completed 100km in 30 days, while Betsy, who’s a double amputee, has completed 52km in 30 days in her wheelchair. Betsy has been a double amputee for a year and a half. It’s completely turned her life upside down, and when Pounds for Paws came up, we thought it might be good challenge for her to do one kilometre every day in her wheelchair. It’s something Betsy’s really taken to and it’s had an extremely positive impact on her. She lives in sheltered housing, and has managed to raise £70 from her fellow residents, and her 86-year-old friend who walks with her most days.
My daughter Sophie is at university, and has found Pounds for Paws brilliant for giving herself something to focus on every day while university is off, and there isn’t much else to do. It’s been the same for me, getting out every day for a run has been a great way to get out and clear the head after work. I’ve used Pounds for Paws as a way to motivate myself, especially working from home, while raising money for a deserving charity. We’re all big animal lovers, we’ve had a cockapoo called Buddy for seven years now and Betsy had a cat, Mia, for 21 years, who passed away shortly after Betsy’s operations. She’s recently adopted a budgie from a neighbour to keep her company.
The Scottish SPCA is a great cause and one we’ve supported for a number of years. I ran a half marathon in 2017, and raised £2,500 in the process for the Scottish SPCA. It’s a very worthy cause for Cala to support, being Scottish and completely voluntary. I’d say more than half of our staff all have animals, it’s great to see people supporting animals in different ways.
Jacqueline Farr, Sales Advisor at Hazeldene Lea, Maidenhill, Newton Mearns
The main reason I participated in Scottish SPCA’s Pounds for Paws was in memory of my darling cat Louie, who passed away a few weeks ago, and my daughter’s dog, Arya. Louie had a heart condition so was on medication all his life, but he lived until he was ten years old. Arya is my daughter Jennifer’s dog. She’s a gorgeous Dachshund with really special markings, which make her really valuable. Unfortunately, Arya was puppy farmed and bred with another Dachshund, but she was too small to carry a litter – so she was then abandoned.
My daughter Jennifer, who’s a GP in Perth, fostered Arya in 2016 until she could find her a new home, but she also has another dog Loki – who Arya loved despite being wary of everyone and everything. Jennifer felt it would be cruel to take Arya away from another dog she finally felt safe with so decided to keep her. Unfortunately, Arya’s had a tough time of it – she’s had issues with her back and her hind legs, so they’ve had to operate on her. Thankfully her operation went well and she’s been accompanying me on some of my walks but she can’t do long distances, so sometimes I carry her the rest of the way home.
I’ve donated to the Scottish SPCA for years but this year I wanted to do something more, so when Pounds for Paws came up it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Last year at Cala we had a showhome competition where we had to dress the showhome and give it a theme. At the Maidenhill showhome we organised “A very charitable Christmas” day where we collaborated with our site team, dressed in Christmas jumpers and decorated our showhome. We bought SSPCA Christmas scarves to put around our reindeer decorations, the proceeds of which went to the Scottish SPCA and Brooke Donkeys. It’s fantastic that Cala is supporting Scottish SPCA – I’ve raised £355 which Cala will match afterwards. Cala have been continuously supportive with me and Arya, who unfortunately cannot go into kennels because of her injuries.
My daughter was due to get married and go on her honeymoon in July, so I had taken three weeks of holidays to go to the wedding and then look after Arya. With Covid-19, the wedding has been postponed but my manager has already told me she’ll stand by the same dates for next year which is amazing. Arya’s chances of survival were very slim but she is a fighter, and I think her love for Jennifer’s other little dachshund Loki has kept her going. She is amazing and with Pounds for Paws it feels like everyone is supporting her. Jackie has been with Cala Homes for just over seventeen years, and was part of the original Cala sales team in the west of Scotland.
For more information on Pounds for Paws, please visit scottishspca.org
