By: Kezzie Paxton
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” –
Walt Disney
Hi 😊 My name is Kezzie and I am the Senior Cat Care Assistant at Tyneside Cats Protection. You can find out more about my Cats Protection journey here.
I decided to embark on my first big fundraising challenge back in October 2015.
When my journey began, I was working for Ferndown Cats Protection as a Cat Care Assistant and signed up to the London to Paris bike ride taking place in July 2016.
The challenge was to cover 295 miles in four days. I decided to raise money for Ferndown Cats Protection because of my love of cats and my passion for feline welfare; I wanted to be able to make a difference to the cats and kittens in Cats Protection’s care that needed our help. Cats Protection is such a fantastic charity and it gave me such satisfaction knowing that I would be helping to make a difference to the lives of cats and kittens that I worked with.
I needed to raise £1500 in 10 months, so needed to come up with some fun and exciting ideas to reach my target.
I really enjoyed baking, so asked my manager if I could bake cookies and cakes and sell them in the reception area at work – because who doesn’t love cake?!
I was given the go ahead, so I made different goodies (including chocolate chip cookies, buns or cupcakes and Malteser crunch) to sell to staff, volunteers and members of the public who visited the Homing Centre. Malteser crunch was by far the most popular sweet treat I made; it was so popular that I would also make a batch of Malteser crunch and take it with me to see family and friends to sell it to them and fundraise a little more.
As well as my regular bake sales, I also set up a JustGiving page to help raise more money and made flyers to display in our reception area with a photo of me on my bike and information about the challenge and how people could support.
With my target of £1500 in ten months quickly looming, I utilised every avenue available to me in order to promote the cause and drum up funds. . I had a sponsor form and a charity pot with information about the event at work, I made some baked goods and some hot chocolate spoons, did a guess the weight of a Christmas cake and had information about my fundraising event and sponsor forms at the Ferndown Cats Protection Christmas event.
I also sent information about my fundraising challenge to The Cat magazine and even got an article and photo in their news section in the 2015 winter edition!
As part of my fundraising, I decided to take part in the Bath Half Marathon.
I decided that 13.1 miles just wasn’t a big enough challenge for me, so I decided to run the race in a cat mascot costume!
I managed to raise some more money through sponsorship, and I’m proud to say that I completed the race, jogging the whole way in costume. It was tough and very warm, but I got around the course in 2 hours and 13 minutes… although, some people thought I was a fox or a mouse as I went round the course – which was quite funny!
With just over four months to go, there was no rest for the wicked after my half marathon! I got to work straight away devising other ways to raise awareness and money for my cause,
I had a table at a local Animal Aid event where I displayed information about my event, Cats Protection information, event sponsor forms, baked goods (human treats and homemade salmon cat treats), some homemade cards and knitted teddies that volunteers from the centre had kindly made for me to sell.
Over the following weeks, with the help of my manager and some good friends, I managed to organise a coffee morning for our supporters, as well as selling donated goods at a local car boot sale to generate further funds.
I also spent time organising a cat talk at a local village hall with the help of my manager and centre volunteers. I was lucky enough to be able to get Trudi Atkinson, a clinical animal behaviourist to come and deliver the talk on the history of cats and feline behaviour. Alongside the talk, we had a tombola, cake stall, plant stall and refreshments. As well as organising these different fundraising activities, I put in lots of miles of training on my bike on my days off along the coast and around the new forest!
I then completed my cycling event over 4 days in July 2016.
The journey was challenging, and hot and hilly in places, but I had a fantastic time and made some great friends along the way!
The route took us through lots of beautiful French countryside, which was lovely. By the time my group made it to Paris, after getting a little lost (the orange triangle signs we were following were very similar to another group’s signs), we finally made it to the Eiffel Tower, covering 310 miles over four days.
I managed to reach my fundraising target amount thanks to our fantastic supporters and even made some fantastic friends along the way!
Are you interested in getting involved with fundraising? Check out my Top Tips for Success…
- Check the Cats Protection Events page for any upcoming events that catch your eye
- Looking to do something smaller? Why not try organising a pub quiz, bake off or car boot sale?
- Set up a JustGiving page for your cause – this will help you to track donations and keep your supporters updated on your progress.
- If you sign up for a Cats Protection event, be sure to get in touch with our events team, who can offer support and promotional materials: events@cats.org.uk.
- You don’t have to think big! The smallest of fundraising events can make a huge difference.
Here’s to being #HereForTheCats – and breaking a sweat whilst doing it!
Kezzie has channelled her love and passion for animals into her work since 2015; she has been a dedicated member of Team Tyneside since 2018. After completing a BTEC in Animal Management at college, Kezzie went on to study Zoology with Animal Behaviour at university. When Kezzie’s not hard at work, she enjoys baking, exercising and hanging out with her lovely cat Amber.
Cats Protection Tyneside Adoption Centre 