SAD NEWS INDEED
After 10 weeks of fighting to keep a local Branch of CP here in North Shropshire, we are truly immensely sorry to tell you that the message below was received on Thursday from CP head office.
“The Board of Trustees has received your appeal against the decision to dissolve the North Shropshire branch. It was received by every member of the board on the morning of Monday 16 September 2013.Having read your final submission and considered it we are sorry to have to inform you that we have decided to confirm our previous decision and so the North Shropshire Branch has now been dissolved.
We did take account of your information about the area but had to weigh that against supporting development in very large areas of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland where there are no branches at all.
Once again the Board would like to thank you for all that you did for cats in the area during your time with the charity.”
Sadly the 2,800 voices (on line & paper petition) in support of the need for a CP Branch here went unheard by the organisation. In addition, the Branch volunteers submitted 3 reports to the Chief Executive and Trustees outlining why the Branch was needed and how well it was doing, but to no avail.
We would like to share a small part of our final submission to CP with you:
Public support & the petitions – huge amounts of Shropshire people have expressed their wish for a local Branch and they need that Branch to be responsive, conscientious and compassionate. Local people are not concerned with who is in which committee role; they simply clearly see the need for the Branch, regardless of the politics. They are the supporters and volunteers of the here and now and to come – their collective view of CP is far reaching.
We are not appealing to you to support the existence a local Branch in order to polish our egos – we will gladly stand aside as we have no right to force our voluntary efforts on any organisation, and if we are not wanted, we certainly would not wish to do so. We are asking this for the cats needing help right now and those of the future, and for all the good citizens of Shropshire who would wish to follow in our footsteps and become the volunteers and ambassadors for CP for years to come.
North Shropshire Branch has, and could continue, to alleviate suffering and foster responsibility and kindness towards cats through all its actions. Whichever path is now chosen, please let it be one which leads to compassion and a true and just outcome for cats.
We are so very sorry that the outcome wasn’t different and are heartbroken for all the cats who will now not get the help they deserve and need - it has been an immense privilege to help the cats and kittens of Shropshire during the past 2 years, and we would do it all again in a heartbeat.
Thank you to everyone who has signed and shared our petition. Sadly CP are not the organisation we thought they were and this is a massive mistake on their part - a terrible miscarriage of justice. If anyone feels they would like to contact CP to express their disgust, the man to write to is the Chief Exec: peter.hepburn@cats.org.uk or Head of operations :mandy.hill@cats.org.uk. Thank you all.
