Since 2005, Hope Rescue has been saving the lives of stray, abandoned and unwanted dogs that, through no fault of their own, need a second chance.
The charity, which has a rescue centre based in Llanharan and a charity shop based in Pontypridd, commits to take in stray dogs from six Local Authorities in South Wales – Merthyr Tydfil, Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Bridgend and the western half of the Vale of Glamorgan – irrespective of their age, breed, or medical condition. It also supports owners in crisis who need to surrender their dogs, giving them peace of mind that their dogs will be rehomed responsibly. It currently helps around 800 dogs per year.
Hope Rescue was recently successful in applying for a Trivallis Community Investment Fund fast track grant, which it used to purchase a laptop and lockers for the volunteers of its Pontypridd store.
Emma Moore, grant fundraiser at Hope Rescue, explained: “Since 2020, we have had so many knock backs. Storm Dennis had a devastating impact on Pontypridd ton centre and saw our shop completely flooded. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic brought a whole host of challenges for us, including having to close the doors of our store on a few occasions – meaning we had to find new ways we could fundraise to support dogs in need.”
Staff and volunteers at Hope Rescue were challenged with finding new ways of raising money and took to selling donated items and Hope Rescue branded items on Ebay, which volunteer Alex Powell says has ‘really taken off.’
To support this work, Hope Rescue has used money from Trivallis’ Community Investment Fund to purchase a laptop, which will also be used to provide online training for volunteers to help them upskill and stay in the know about things happening across the Charity.
The rest of the grant funding the charity received was used to purchase lockers, so volunteers can keep their belongings safe and sound whilst they work in the Pontypridd shop.
Lisa Roberts, partnerships officer at Trivallis, said: “As Trivallis’ Community Investment Fund supports our local communities, it is important to us that local people are involved in deciding where and how the money is spent. Our grant panel is made up of Trivallis tenants and trustees from Community Foundation Wales – all of whom either live in RCT or have links to our communities.
“The panel meet every two months to decide which of the most recent applications will be successful for our large grants and their local knowledge is key to ensuring that our spend is fair across our communities and fits in with the grant themes.”
One of the members of Trivallis’ grant panel is Julie Rice Harvey, a Trivallis tenant from Ferndale. Julie recently visited the Hope Rescue store in Pontypridd to see how the charity was benefitting from the money it had received from Trivallis’ Community Investment Fund. She enjoyed a tour of the store, got to speak to the volunteers, and even purchased some curtains for her new home which she has just moved in to.
If you’d like to find out more about the many opportunities for you to get involved with Trivallis, like our grants panel, then visit www.trivallis.co.uk/involvement. There are lots of ways you can become a Future Maker, help shape our services, and make sure the tenants voice is heard; no matter how much time you can commit.
For more information on Trivallis’ Community Investment Fund, which is managed and promoted by independent charity Community Foundation Wales, visit: www.trivallis.co.uk/communit-investment-fund.
If you don’t have access to the internet, there are plenty of other ways you can get in touch to find out more about Future Makers or the Community Investment Fund, just give us a call on 03000 030 888.