Greyhound Rescue Wales

Greyhound Rescue Wales

At a glance

Causes

  • Animals / wildlife

Other details

Organisation type: 
Charity
Geographical remit: 
National - Wales

Objectives

For the benefit of the public, principally but not exclusively in Wales and its environs (hereinafter called the area of benefit), to promote the welfare and relieve the suffering of greyhounds and greyhound cross breeds (lurchers) in need of care and attention, and in particular to provide and maintain rescue homes or other facilities for the reception, care and treatment of such animals.

To promote humane behaviour towards animals by providing appropriate care, protection, treatment and security for greyhounds and greyhound cross breeds which are retired, unwanted, or in need of care and attention by reason of sickness, poor circumstances or ill usage, and to educate the public in matters pertaining to animal welfare in general and the prevention of cruelty and suffering among animals

Activities

GRW owns and runs its own sanctuary, Hillcrest, in Garnant South Wales where dogs coming to the charity are welcomed, assessed and cared for in preparation for re-homing. At Hillcrest we can currently accommodate 12 dogs in purpose built, insulated and heated kennels, plus up to 2 in the isolation kennel and up to three in the house. We have secured planning permission to accommodate up to 24 hounds on the site. We also work in partnership with the retired Greyhound Trust (RGT) West Wales through one of our Trustees and accommodate further hounds near Llanelli. The Sanctuary is managed by a full and a part time employee and a team of volunteers, who report directly to a Trustee.

We have a network of contacts across Wales that contribute dogs needing homing into our process. We also operate a 24/7/365 telephone contact service (with emailed answer phone service out of hours) which allows other regular and emergency contact to be made both to offer homings/adoptions and for help in homing dogs that are no longer required by their owners. We work actively with other rescues to assist with the homing of hounds.

In 2011 GRW homed 49 dogs, in 2012, 135, in 2013, 196 and in 2014 222. This massive increase has been the result of a major re-structuring of the charity’s and governance as well as the management and operational processes of the organisation, allied to the establishment of the Hillcrest sanctuary. On 2nd June 2013 GRW changed its status and became a company limited by guarantee. This change of governance from an unincorporated body to becoming a limited company enabled the charity to take the next step forward enabling GRW to purchase property and employ staff. The Trustees have invested in technology to provide a comprehensive on line database to monitor, track and manage membership, adoptions, fostering and the full data of each hound. This is used in conjunction with a new web site, launched in 2013 which provides up to date information about GRW but especially the profiles of each dog available for adoption. GRW also extensively uses social media through its two Facebook pages to promote activities and communicate with a wide audience of supporters. Twice yearly GRW produces a twelve page full colour magazine "Greyhound Express" which is posted to the full membership. This is backed up by a similar twice yearly email newsletter "Greyhound Chat" sent to all members with email addresses.

A dedicated team of members, supporters and volunteers across the whole of Wales is invaluable to the work of GRW. Through a series of regional coordinators, this team helps maintain a full time national call line, the reception of hounds, filtering of requests to adopt, home checking potential adopters, fostering hounds in our 'kennels to cuddles' programme as well as the transportation and follow up work involved in adoption. This regional team forms the backbone of our fundraising activities through a yearlong programme of events across the whole of Wales .Fundraising activities through varied collections, auctions, raffles, attendance at fairs and shows, etc. continues throughout the year along with a variety of awareness raising and social events.

Income is generated through membership, sponsorships, donations, grants and legacies alongside three Charity shops, two of which have part time managers and all have a dedicated team of volunteers that allow the shops to be open six days a week. The work of all these teams is monitored and managed by the board of Trustees of the Charity that reports annually to the membership, the Charity Commission and Companies House.

GRW extends its work beyond Wales to secure long term improvements to the welfare of dogs. To this end GRW is a member of the UK Greyhound Forum which is the interface between rescue organisations and the racing industry (Greyhound Board of Great Britain) in the UK as a whole. Similarly we also work closely with the Greyhound Rescue Association of Ireland

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