News

So, here we are in September already and goodness knows where this year has gone!

Most people have been confined in their own homes due to the Covid 19 virus. Those of us lucky enough to have a feline
companion or two will probably have spent a lot more time with it. I wonder if they feel that all the extra attention they
have been getting is the new normal. I hope they will not be too disappointed as we hopefully get to return to our usual
routines in due course.

As a Branch, when the lockdown was introduced, all our volunteers were stood down and all our charity activities
suspended. We were unable to undertake what we see as our normal everyday volunteer activities of taking cats into
care, rehoming foster cats and face to face fundraising. The central Cats Protection charity and the RSPCA were
responding to emergency calls, using paid employees.

It has been a very frustrating time for us all: our foster cats have been in care for very much longer than we would have
wanted. A  high spot though was the arival of a litter of kittens to Tilly, one of the foster cats in care with Brenda, now all
rehomed.

We are now beginning to rehome our foster cats using a hands-free homing process.  This is just one of the new ways we
are now operating as a Branch to reduce the risk from Corona virus to our volunteers and adopters and following Cats
Protection's requirements. Additionally, we have held an inaugural Branch video meeting using Zoom to talk with home
visitors and fosterers to update them on changes to their role and answer their questions. It was nice to be able to see
some familiar faces and to be able to talk together after a long time.  Maybe we will look at using these technologies in
the future, as we are having to adapt to our new ways of working. We are now also able to bring cats into care as we are
creating foster spaces, so we are now getting back to doing what we love to do - helping cats and kittens.

We were sorry we had to cancel our Spring Fair and our Quiz night, but we really hope to be able to start to reorganise
events and get to see you all again soon.  Please keep an eye on the Events page of our website for more details.

Thank you for everything you do for us, whether volunteering or supporting the Branch, helping us get cats and kittens
into new homes.

Nikki Butcher
Branch Coordinator
Bracknell and Wokingham Districts Cats Protection