Feline family fun afternoon at Erdington Library
31 October 2018
‘Gizzy’s Big Adventure’ – a children’s cat-care story book – kept youngsters listening and learning at a feline fun afternoon held in Erdington library on Tuesday, 30 October. The event was organised by Cats Protection North Birmingham Education lead, Pam Wood, in partnership with Assistant library manager, Pat Pedder.
The children who came along were on half term holidays from school and were accompanied by Mums and Dads. After story-time, they had fun exploring around the library bookshelves to find hidden-away ‘cat-related items’ – toys, feeding bowls and cat beds – proving they knew just what it takes to make a pet cat happy.
Finally, there was a happy half-hour colouring in and decorating cat face-masks – with lots of Halloween sparkle and spookiness !
Pam says she is ‘happy to have developed such a good relationship with Erdington library, and willing to take on bookings for similar sessions at other libraries too’.
“Earlier in the month I was booked to present on cats at Prince Albert Primary School in Aston. Six classes of 30 or so 8 – 10 year-olds was quite a challenge. But I had the benefit of the latest Cats Protection education materials, which I knew off by heart by the end of the day! Our aim is to put across the importance of neutering for the benefit of the cats and the whole community, as well as understanding the needs of cats, and promoting responsible pet ownership. And we cover this in such a way as to tie-in with the school curriculum too.”
Pam would like to thank CPs welfare team volunteer Denise Cooke for joining her for part of the day in Aston, and publicity and photography volunteers Sheila Pennell and Richard Brown for their support at Erdington Library.
Next up for education workshops are several groups of Rainbows, Brownies and Cub Scouts.
** Any group or school wishing to book a presentation or workshop, or anyone wanting to talk about becoming a volunteer speaker for Cats Protection, call the helpline on 0345 260 1503 and your details will be passed on to the education team.