Tissues maybe required, something to throw and sometimes a stress manager may also be required!
A big Thank you to everyone who has responed 
to this page, I am sorry if tears have happened, but remember some of these little souls have never had a tear shed for them (other than mine) before, so thank you for caring enough to show your feeling for them and please keep reading.
10/02/10
What a fantastic start to the New Year, lots of animals coming and going (although that's not brilliant, just the fact that we are rehoming is great!), lots of fund-raising every weekend and an increase in direct giving, all wonderful for the start of a new year.
NANNA is also moving onward and upward, we have been able to increase the size of our facilities and the move will be happening over the Easter period, we hope! Although we cannot afford to grow, this move will allow us to offer better facilities for the animals and bring Higglety Pigglety and NANNA under one roof, which has been our dream for many years.
We also have some new Trustees coming on board and full details will be posted soon. so all in all, brilliant start to the New Year.
06/01/10
What a brilliant start to the New Year - snow! I love the snow and the peace it brings and the little ones looking at you when you open the door for them to go and have a tiddle. The shock when they see the snow for the first time or the old timers who look at you as if to say "Get a life!" The funniest was today when a couple of the little left over kittens from 2009, ran outside, as I opened the door for the dogs, and ploughed straight into the snow and both of them leapt into the air and jumped, claws out, all the way back into the house and then shock one leg at a time. They both looked at me as if to say "What the...........?
Freezing weather causes so many problems for animals, the sheep need extra feed along with the goats, pigs, horses, chickens, geese and most of the other farm animals. The water is frozen so we have to come up to the house to get extra water, they need lots of bedding and you can't exactly put a water bottle in with them like you can the cats or ferrets. To go to the field in the snow is like being on a completely different planet, the peace is wonderful but the joy in the animals eyes when they see you beats all of that........ That is why I love NANNA's, no matter what the world sends us the animals will always be here for us to help and they show us, in their eyes, how much they love what we do!
In 2010 we are going to help even more animals and we will do it, with your help and we will do it even when things look really bad, because the animals need us to succeed.
2010 will bring the same moans and groans, the same critics who think they can do better or what we are doing is wrong, but who cares what they think, it is what the animals think and the look in their eyes tells me we are getting it right!
01/01/10
Happy New Year everyone.
I thought I would start the new year off remembering some of the special times NANNA had in 2009 and some of the sad times too, you can't have one without the other but it is what you have learn't from both experiences that count.
2009 brought us much pain and heartache, it always hurts when we lose an animal, even if it has been with us only a short time, but when we lose one who has been with us, against all the odds, for a long time the pain is so sharp, people say you get use to it. You don't you just use to having a void in your heart. In 2009 we lost so many of our long termers that at one point (or two), I felt I could not continue with the ache in my heart, but then another little face so needy would look at me and somehow I found the strength to continue.
I am only going to mention a few of the animals who we lost this year. Daisy, Tiny Tim, Popsicle, Polly -Popcorn, Minty, Colonel Mustard, Professor Plum and Posh, Gabriel and Pagan, Socks and Toffee, Rocky the fawn and New Years Eve to finish the year off we lost Simone.
Personally I lost two of my wonderful Newfies, Finn and Bella, my fantastic parrot Bilbo and the one little cat that NANNA stands for Candy-trickle bum. A very hard year and many more came in and touched our hearts and moved on the chase the butterflies in the sky.
Oswina survived having the garden fence landing on her, she broke her wing but she survived.
2009 also brought a lot of joy too, the joy of being allowed to have such wonderful animals in our lives to begin with, the wonderful team of volunteers, the students and all the youngsters who come into NANNA's every weekend to muck out the animals.
We have some fantastic memories too, Jamie swollowing the ring pull on a can of coke, Kirsty walking into the horse lorry and knocking herself out, Adam breaking his hand through temper, Steven throwing a ball for Sasha and dislocating his shoulder at the same time! Michael falling full face in the pig sty, Keren leaving to go to Uni and having us all in tears at Rockingham, Shannon locking herself in a cat cage for an hour, Keren piggy back riding! Adam stripping in the field because he got caught up in the barbed wire.
The charity has stuggled all year to keep open and we have seen more animals needing to come in then any other year, but we have made it. We have lost some volunteers this year but we have gain many new ones too, looking back we have had some crap in 2009 but we have also had some fantastic times too.
All in all we have loved and been loved - we can't ask for more than that. HAPPY NEW YEAR again xxxx
09/10/09
We have just lost the most wonderful Finn, it hurts so much I can hardly breath. One minute playing and the next being rushed to the vets and undergoing a two hour operation.
On Monday Finn twisted his gut and during his operation they had to remove his spleen, he came home to us on the Tuesday, but sadly passed away on Wednesday. I strongly believe he is now with his first Mummy Belinda, who passed away a year ago with cancer.
I can see them walking and swimming together.
Finn with his first Mummy Belinda now reunited
1/12/09
Christmas is only days away and we are going to have aprroximately 400 animals, of all different shapes and sizes with us this Christmas and an awful lot waiting to come in too, it is so sad that so many animals are going to be homless this Christmas.
I was asked if I felt is was worse this year than previous years? Yes perhaps it is, last year we rehomed so many and managed to keep the pens flowing, this year we seem to be keeping the little mites longer than usual.
Someone brought a smile to my face, after I got over the shock of what was said, to which I am going to share with you some of the excuses and happenings that go on at NANNA. No names but the people will know only too well who I am on about!
A lady had been ringing us three times a week for about four weeks asking if we could take her cat, eventually we found room for the little cat - nine years old and just not wanted anymore, sad but true, she brought the cat over and we were talking about a donation and she stated that she gave £10 a month to the RSPCA and has done so for many years! I asked, politely, if she considered asking them to take her cat! Her reply was quite typical really, she said "My dear, they are full, I don't think you realise how busy they are!" I felt like telling her to take her unwanted cat, but the little mite looked so needy that I just accepted the £5 donation and opened the door for her to leave! We only had 65 cats in at the time, what's another one?
Another cat needing to come in, we were told the owner had mental health issues and they were having to move and could not take the cat and the vet had given them our number to see if we could help. We suggested that they rang us on the Tuesday and if the home visit went well we should be able to take the cat in on Wednsday - Not good enough, they took their cat to the vets and dumped it there?
Someone else decided they had had enough and wanted rid of their cat again we said we may be able to take the cat in on the Thursday, but they could not wait they took it to be put to sleep (murdered) because they wanted it gone now, this minute!
A man phoned because he was moving in with his girlfriend and she did not like cats! I advised him to strongly think about getting rid of his cats before he made a huge mistake. The cats will be with him no matter what he says or does - will she? We took in the cats but I give it a year before he's looking for a new forever home!
NANNA is now having to ask for a donation to take in animals because the cost to us for looking after so many has risen and we are struggling to keep our heads above water, but when I told someone we would take their pet ib but we would need a donation of approx. £20 to come with the pet, they said that it was disgusting because we were a charity and it was our duty to take the animal in!
Is it my duty? Are we not here to help the sick and injured and the strays? Is it not the duty of the owner to take care of their pets?
I just pray that we are still here in 2010 and for many years because one thing for sure, we may be getting more animals in, but we are also seeing the true selfish attitude of people who think the world owes them something and usually for nothing in return.
23/11/09
Each time things go bad we think it can't get any worse but someone or thing is always ready to prove it can. I personally can not wait for this year to end and a new one to start but only if all this heart break stops.
I know how lucky I am and that there are a lot of people worse off, but ocasionally it would be nice to get up in the morning and have a whole day of good news without the bad.
We have just been told that we have to go on proforma invoices because one of our suppliers is having financial difficultites, this is fine but we need to find extra money each month now to pay the account outstanding and pay the weekly account too!
NANNA has no income, just fund-raising constant fund-raising and that is getting so hard too.
We had the honour of a beautiful little fawn in our lives this month, Rocky was the name we gave him and he had been hit by a car and seriously hurt his leg and we paid for him to have an operation but sadly the little fawn did not make it and he passed away leaving a huge dent in our hearts.
We have Basset, Liquorice and Allsorts survived from the hand-rears and they are coming on leaps and bounds and rehoming seems to be picking up again.
We have a full fund-raising calender for December and can only pray we make it to next year.
07/10/09
It has been over two months since I have writen on this page and an awful lot has happened in that time, we have lost some more very dear little ones and our hearts are very heavy! 
Tiny Tim (middle) has gone to chase those butterflies in the sky, with Polly-popcorn, Popsicle and Raven.
Snoopy got run-over leaving her with one broken leg and one with ligament damage and she is cage resting.
Victor the old grumpy rat has died and Nelson and Mandella have also past away.
Pagan and Gabriel both past away within four days of each other.
We have Fern fighting Myxo and also Sox but their partners Thistle and Toffee are looking great. We vaccinate all our rabbits twice a year and we have still been hit with it.
Buffy has lost her partner Giles at the Earls Barton Show when he got stung by a wasp! 
Walter is feeling his age and does not look so proud and he became a dad, but the chick did not survive. Some of our volunteers have moved on, Keren is in University and is greatly missed, but she is coming back high days and holidays.
Lastly Oswina are ever faithful friendly Mother Goose broke her wing, when a garden panel blow off in the high winds and landed on her, but the goodnews is she is doing fine.
So forgive me for not writing on this page for a little while, hearts have been broken and time was needed to allow the healing process to begin.
Now we are battling with nine little hand-rears - WATCH THIS SPACE!
26/07/09
We are still feeling the loss of Candy and then we get hit again, Bella, one of our beautiful Newfoundlands has past away due to cancer and old age. She was one of the three who usually sat outside the shops checking out the shopping as people came out to see if there was anything she could eat! Here is a picture of Bella, with Teddy (left) and little Oliver (middle).
This photo was taken outside a shop in Cumbria just after a walk, 
where we had to lift her and Teddy over the stiles because they were too big to get through them. Oliver just went under them! Bella was no longer wanted by her owners but her life ended being wanted and loved by all the volunteers at NANNA, she was matriarch to all the Newfies but grumpy with the kittens when they got too close!
One of our volunteers words said it all "Bella is up there on the fluffiest cloud, waiting for the cats to get too close!" RIP Bella you deserve the best cloud in the sky.
It hurts so much when we lose one of our little souls, but sadly there will always be another waiting to come in and need your love and attention that grieving always seem longer because you have to dust yourself down and get on looking after them. Quietly, whilst on your own, the tears start and you begin to go through all the names of who have gone to chase the butterflies in the sky, then you remember their funny little ways and a smile comes on your face again and you know it is them putting those thoughts into your head just to see you smile!
30/06/09
Nearly two months have passed since writing on this page and what two month it has been.
We have been really busy fund-raising and had a great time at all the events we have been to. The East Of England was a great success, but we also had a disaster when our 4x4 automatic gear box seized on us and we could not get the animals or caravan home, but we made it. Then the horse lorry failed it's MOT and we are now without 4x4 and lorry to get to the events we have on, but I am sure like always we will find away.
One of our longest special needs cats passed away leaving a huge gap in our lives. Her name was Candy aka Candy-trickle-bum and she was soon to be the grand old age of 6! Ordered to put her down by the RSPCA when we were with them but I refused, set up NANNA's and Candy was one of the reasons we are here today.
Candy was and is what NANNA is all about, a home for the unwanted, the sick and the ones that no-one else will take in, due to health, age or just looks.Candy trickled pooh everywhere she went, she also gave kisses to everyone she met.
We were reported to the RSPCA more times because of Candy than all the other animals put together, because people judge without questions or finding out the full facts. I did not help matters because I refused to hide her and lock her up when people called, she was too special to keep hidden.
Candy was a purrfect name for this little cat who loved life, she was as sweet as Candy and when she trickled pooh all over you, like candy, she was bad for your health - RIP sweet, sweet Candy xxx
01/05/09
Wow, is it that long since I have written on this page? what has happen since I last wrote? An awful lot and it is going to take me a couple of days or so to write it up so please bear with me!
I am writing this whilst I am flat on my back due to hurting it just before Easter and I still cannot stnd or sit for long without tears.
So do we start with the moans or the good things that have happen since last writing?
I think I will start off with good, then moan (you all know how I like a good moan) then finish on a high!
Good News
We have made it through the winter months and come out the other end with no money, lots of bills, but we have helped an awful lot of animals.
Manuel-Ronaldo has come home and has landed on his naughty paws by being offered a purr-fect home with one of our volunteers, so we can see him whenever we want, he even has his own following on our , so why not take a peek at the little chap.
We did an appeal for new homes for rabbits and ended up taking in 22 rehoming 0! Not quite what we wanted but hey, it's the way it goes sometimes.
Sad News
We have had a few deaths in the house with our special needs cats and I also lost one of my own cats too. It is always sad when we loose the battle with the special needs cats but the upside is the memories they leave us. I think we will all smile when we think of Prof Plumb especially when he came home from the vets after being castrated and we change his name to Prof Plumb-less!
We also cried when our oldest rabbit passed away, she came to us aged 9 when the children had outgrown her! We had her for 4 years and paired her up with an older buck and she died at the ripe old age of 13 at least she had companionship in her final years.
A moan
Can you believe that someone told the organisers of the Rushden Cavalcade that we were not doing the event this year and they did not even bother to ring us to see if this was true? They just gave someone our place!
I use to get upset and mad with these people now however I believe in the fact that when you do bad, it come back three times worse and bites you hard. So bite, bite, bite just as long as no animal gets hurt!
Someone posted on the forum that we were getting done for fraud! This person signed on for one day only and asked the question, the funny thing is they have not had the guts to reply to our emails asking for further information, so another trouble maker? Who cares?
Good News
We have a full fund-raising calendar, but we can fit in more! why not check out our and see where we are going this year.
17/02/09
Ok the write up on the 17th Jan for some reason did not save! Such is life.
A lot has happened since writing last on this page, we lost our broadband and could not reply to emails, update the website and then to top it off we lost the phones too! It is amazing how people get stressed out because you did not get back to them! How could we, we had no way of knowing who had been in contact with us and being disabled and hardly leaving the house it is very difficult to go somewhere else and use someone else's computer - Oh yes, we are volunteers afterall!
This month we had to make a very hard decission about a young dog in our care and it has caused quite a lot of upset with one or two people within the charity, but the sad thing is at the end of the day it is NOT our feelings that count but the welfare of the animals and I will not be part of a charity who hides thing under the carpet or uses policies as reasons to do things. If a dog cannot be rehomed because it is deemed to be dangerous under the Dangerous Dog Act, then I will not keep that dog caged for the rest of his life just to keep him alive, that to me is wrong and being a believer in life after death, so why keep a dog caged because it is dangerous and stop it from moving on to the next life, which has got to be a better one then the one it just had? You can read all about the plight of Jay on the forum, there will be a whole page just for him and for people to express their views on the whole thing if you wish!
We have been very lucky so far this year with re-homing, but sadly we have had as many if not more animals come through or need to come through our doors. So if you are tinking of re-homing an animal please remeber the little ones here we have so many looking.
17th January 2009
It has been nearly two months since I last wrote on this site and a lot has happened, both personally and within the Charity. The run up to Christmas was busy, fund-raising and rehoming. Michael was in hospital and Carla was also very poorly at the same time and had to go off to your Nan's.
NANNA's youngsters came to the rescue though by helping out down the field and at the house with the animals and I can't say how proud I was that they were here helping and getting on with it. Not to mention Alison and Sharon who also gave up their time to help.
On the 20th December, Poppy, one of our re-homed dogs, gave birth to five puppies, that was a very pleasant surprise to all concerned. Adopt one dog and get five free!
Christmas arrived and we were still trying to get back on our feet, Sharon came in Christmas morning to help feed and sort the animals and we had a very quiet family time.
19/11/08
I have been told off because I have not put down on the website that the PRIDE IN NORTHAMPTONSHIRE AWARDS have been presented and I won the award for Hard Work and Determination - so well done everyone at NANNA's, you deserve it!
16/11/08 - MOAN TIME
I was standing outside Collins Pet food supplies this weekend doing a collection with the Newfie girls when someone came up and asked me who I was collecting for, when I said NANNA, I got the reaction - Oh I would not give them a penny!
I was quite stunned to say the least, having never met this lady, nor to my knowledge had she ever come out to see us. So acting baffled I asked her why she felt like that?
Her reply was quite to the point that: She helped out at Animals In Need at Irchester and two of NANNA ex-trustees have moved over to them and it is well known that the animals are kept in awful conditions at NANNA's and that the trustees left because of the way the animals were kept.
She went on to say that the animals, are stressed, in poor health and they are trying to get us shut down!
I was stunned - again, but came out fighting - of course!
I explained that facts should be proven before being aired and how dangerous it was to slander and repeat gossip! I also explained that I was the Chairman for NANNA who had ordered one trustee off the premises and asked the other one to leave our charity after an an exta-ordinary meeting was held into her behaviour as our treasurer.
These two ex-trustees still retain property of the NANNA and have refused point-blank to return them. I also offer the lady a chance to come and meet our hard working volunteers - who keep animals in awful conditions - she declined!
Then one of our volunteers came in and said that she was told that the RSPCA were shutting NANNA down! - Information from a volunteer at Animals in Need Irchester.
Is this the same RSPCA who came out and did their inspection and said on the last two that they can give us NO WARNINGS - NO ADVISE - could not recommend us because some of our pens were too small for their policies, but we should all pull together and try and work together for the animals.
When starting NANNA we never thought we would be the size we are in such a short time, some say we ran before we learnt how to walk! Some think we were not needed as the big boys knew what they were doing and better equipped! Some smaller boys, who would like to think they were big boys only have time for themselves and use the even smaller charities, by picking and chosing what they will or won't take in.
There are charities out there critising ALL other charities but they still give out those charities numbers when the animal is not what they want to help. Usually due to age, colour or they don't take in from the public or the animal is ill!
The saddest thing of all is when volunteers, trustees or staff leave a charity that they have worked with, helped and at one time respected, starts bad mouthing that charity. Why? Was their judgment, at the time of starting, so far off the mark or did they leave because they were asked to? I left the RSPCA because their policies were to rigid for me to be able to work with, however I have the fullest respect for the local volunteers.
I am proud to be part of NANNA, because we don't pick and choose what we take, we take what needs to come in. My home is overtaken by animals that will not live long but they will have a life before they lose it, not just put down because of space, money or how it looks to the public.
We have helped so many other local charities in the fight to help animals, but only Wellingborough-Rushden Cat Protection, RAIN Oxfordshire and Wellingborough Dog Welfare have ever helped us in return. NANNA is ran as a non-profit, voluntary charity with no paid staff, in peoples homes and gardens and we work hard for the animals and not for what others think, but it does hurt!
When you give up time, money and your homes only to be critised by other charities who have money in the bank and always appealing for more but not apparently investing the money into foster homes or further facilities to help more animals, then that to me in hypocritical.
Please lets all pull together for the animals - stop bitching and get over it, at the end of the day, we are all profess to be here for the animals one thing we should all agree on.
I may be feeling really fed-up at the moment but I have news for some! NANNA is not and will not be defeated, we are here to stay - and we will be here to help another 6000 animals!
Now some sad news!
NANNA is closing down nine indoor cat pens due to the cost of running them, this is very sad because they are needed but if you are struggling to pay for them to stay open you need to look at the overall picture and that is closing nine to keep 24.
We have been to Newmarket and waiting some blood results on Gg, but we need to raise £2000 for further treatment, so we need to do an appeal for this because we would not be justified on spending what little money we have on one animal. So pleeeeeease help if you can!
We have a lot of fund-raising events throughout the winter, but they are for the day to day running cost, so if you would like to help raise funds for Gg, please let us have your ideas.
I am sorry if some feel this is not the place to air my views but you were warned at the start!
11/11/08
Well the hedgehogs are coming in thick and fast and they are not in brilliant condition either, most are starving - yet we had a good year for slugs, but that means a bad year for pellets and sadly many dead hedgehogs! We have been helping hedgehogs for a few years now and we love the Spring to see our winter visitors shuffle off down the garden path hopefully going on to a long and happy life.
We have really got the dog fostering off the ground, we have a new Dog Fostering Co-ordinator, who is giving up his time free of charge to help the dogs and our dog foster homes are brilliant too. If you would like to see what this is all about then please email us and we will fill you in.
I am going to try and see Manuel-Ronaldo on Friday so watch out for an update, since my illness I have not been to see him and I feel guilty, so Iwill take with me looks of new goodies for him to play with.
Christmas is just around the corner so I have made out the NANNA letter to Santa, so hopefully Santa will be kind to us again this year. We have an awful lot of animals in with us at the moment all looking for that purr-fect home and in the meantime they need looking after. I hope our list is fair, as I said money is always needed but homes are needed too and they are more important.
Daniel, our longest surviving volunteer turned 21 on Saturday and the NANNA Barmy Army through him a surprise birthday party and fun was had by all. Alison baked him a fantastic cake and we all put money in to pay for the hall and disco, it was fantastic to see everyone enjoying themselves and just to see Daniels face was worth the hard work.
Our Halloween Fancy Dance Car Rally was also very sucessful, although we were let down at the last minute by a group of people we had fun and we raised over £100.
Tomorrow Gg goes to Newmarket to see a specialist, so fingers crossed for this little dog. You can read up about this little soul on the special needs page, she really does deserve a chance. Please help her if you can.
26/10/08
Since writing last I have been extremely ill and hardly been out of my bed, but I am getting stronger and more capable of looking at the website again. I am so sorry that the site has been neglected but I could not lift my head off the pillow without it thumping and the knock on effect has meant the silly little things like answering the phones and emails have just been left.
Hopefully I am on the road to recovery, however slow, I am going to do as much as I can, when I can and not just get on with it whatever the hour!
We have had some gorgeous piglets in and they are doing great - we lost 5 and 5 have survived - they were only 11 hours old by the time they got to me and some were already flagging but we managed to get five through it and they have now got very posh names.
Lord Streaky Adam
Lady Alison Cutlet
Lord Danny Gammon
Lady Hazel Bacon
Lord David Hamburger
The little ones who did not make it were:
Lord Timothy Scratchings
Lady Ruth Chop
Lord Thomas Piddlepot
(He never seemed to stop peeing)!
Lady Dot (the tiniest one)
Bonnie Lord Gordon
You just never know what the next call is going to bring in!
18/09/08
Well we have some sad news and some good news and some very good news and some unbelievable news.
First the sad news, Jake's cancer has come back and it is throughout his body and he has gone down hill so fast, he has been living in my bedroom for a little while now and he has just slept, so with the advise from the vet's and the result's from the bloods and biopsy and the condition of the little man we decided to end his suffering. So on Monday Jake was put to sleep and his little frail body has gone for cremation and his ashes will be returned to us along with a little kitten called Fizzy lemonade who also lost her life at just six month.
Some unbelieveable news: We took in an older cat (as we do!) because his owner had died and the home was sold and he moved to a garage which has now also been sold, so this senior-kitizen was ownerless, homeless and then garageless! So on coming to us with a slight heart murmur, bad gums and a touch of arthritis, we thought he would be with us for the rest of his life but to our delight he has landed on his paws! Gilbert has found a new forever home and his new "staff" donated a huge amount of food and pet supplies and very large donation! How wonderful is that? But the best thing is Gilbert has a new forever home, he may not be young but he has got lots of love to give and now he is also going to recieve a huge amount of love too.
Some very good news: We have just been told we have a large donation on it's way which is always very welcome and some Good news is Carla did not break her ankle!!!!
Let me explain:- Carla went with her dad to pick up a new horse that was coming in for re-homing but the little sweetheart decide to play up a little! Carla got in the way and as the horse reared up Carla managed to move a good chunk of her body out of the way of the horse, but left her ankle behind! The horse came down on her ankle and Carla is now on crutches and the horse is staying for now with her owner.
This was not the horses fault it was very frightened and obviously she did not want to leave her owner and went calmly and happily back to her stable - Carla went to hospital!
09/09/08
Well what a month we have had! Manuel is doing great and has come on leaps and bounds and thanks to him NANNA has landed on it's feet too, we have paid all our outstanding accounts and have a little left over.
We have been to the Balloon Festival, Holcot Steam Rally. Earls Barton Steam rally, Delapre Family Fun Day and Pleydell Family Fun Day and we still have lots of events to do. We are all running out of steam and most days I find I am laying out on the sofa having even more trouble moving. Some of the events I have been too ill to go and do much but thankfully I am only a figure head and the team all work well together.
Most of our very young volunteers have now moved on to college or they have got jobs! We need the young ones because they are the future of the charity, so if you are young and energetic (16 - 99.9) and looking for something to do with your spare time please ring us and come and meet the crowd.
We have lots of animals in our care (as always), but some need even more special care than others and we have had some on treatment with our fingers crossed.
Jake our darling little black and white boy who had cancer of the leg, which we removed came back to us and he is in quite a bad way. It looks as if his cancer could be back, he has just undergone a further operation to remove three lumps on body and they have been sent of for biopsies so fingers crossed for the little chap.
Jefferson has also been to the vets as he seems to have a mouth full of ulcers - ouch! He has had bloods and they were all fine, so that was good, but he is a very poorly boy who is too poorly to have any operations to sort the gums out so again fingers crossed.
On the good side we found homes for Tiger and Susie and Tete and we seem to be moving again on the rehoming of ALL the animals. We have rehomed more rabbits than we normally do in August and the cats are well on track as well. All in all life is good!
Little Manuel has taught us that although we are here to help the animals the animals are also here to help us! How wonderful is that? For each tear they is a smile and for each down there is an up waiting to happen.
NANNA will always go through ups and downs but we will always be here for the animals and one day we will have money in the bank and more accommodation than we need but we will not be so big that we forget what we are here for - the animals.
We have had so many calls just lately regarding peoples feeling and finding and opinions about other charities, that we have decided that - we are not the only ones being critised - and we are not going to join the band wagon - we do what WE think is right and we will continue to do our best.
I have to say I am really looking forward to the future, it looks good, every brick wall we meet we will have a sledge hammer to bring it down and the strength to do it - if Manuel can survive a minimum of 3 days in a lorry travelling from Portugal to Corby then we can survive too.
11/08/08
Well my faith in the human race has been restored! Our little illegal visitor has been given a chance. We have had so many donations and kind words about the little chap that his life is secure. We have notified the quarantine cattery that we will be able to pay his bills, which is a wonderful feeling.
We are going to open a new page, just for him, to allow everyone to see how he is growing and what is happening to him. He is so cute, like most little kittens, but he has been through so much in such a short time that he has stolen a huge chunk of our hearts.
We have realised that he will not be coming out until Feb 09 so he will be spending Christmas inside!!! I am sure we can send him a few presents though.
A BIG THANK YOU xXx
08/08/08
Today has been a very strange day! We had an illegal immigrant come through our doors and the poor little mite is now facing the next 6 months in quarantine and for the little mite to come back to NANNA after the quarantine is up we have to foot the bill!
Meet Manuel
Approx. 10 days old
I strongly believe that our quarantine rules are the best in the world, however I do beleive that since we have opened the borders, allowing pets to travel in and out of Europe, we need to look at some of the issues this has raised.
Does a 10 day old kitten, really stand a chance in quarantine after being given the rabies jab? Does it need to stay in quarantine for 6 months, surely it will show signs way before that? Why is a pregnant cat who is brought into this country and placed in quarantine allowed to have the kitten who can then go out at 8 weeks old just because they are born here?
04/08/08
Ok, this weeks quiz!
What do you go to an animal re-homing charity for?
What do you expect to pay for a re-homed animal?
What is involved in being a trustee of a charity?
Who's the mug!
We have been in the papers because we are full and can no-longer afford to keep taking in animals. We have many animals - young and old - across the charity and we are still being asked - even though they admit to seeing the TV and reading the papers - if we can take in their animal because their case is urgent!
We then have people come out to re-home an animal then get angry over the price we are asking? What is this all about?
Surely you go to an animal charity to get an animal that is in need of a home - not to get a cheap pet? When an animal comes into us we sometimes need to go and get new pen/cages for them because the ones they came in are not right for the animals. We neuter most of the animals that come through our doors and worm/flea/vaccination where necessary and all we try to do is to get some of our money back that we have spent!
As a trustee, we are responsible for the bills, we are the ones who go fund-raising - look after the animals - with the help of other UNPAID volunteers - but ultimately it is our homes on the lines when others want to dump their animals when the going gets tough! We ask a reasonable price for our animals we consider all the cost to the charity and then decide what the minimum donation should be. We very rarely cover the cost of an animal, the ferrets being the most we lose on.
Why should any trustee of any charity run the risk of losing everything just to give someone to have a place to dump their animals (usually for free), for someone else to get a cheap pet and then moan when a minimum donation is asked for.
Please come to NANNA or any other animal rescue for the new member of your family, not just to try a get a CHEAP pet! We need to be able to open our doors and keep them open, the only way to do that is to get a realistic donation, allowing us to buy new pens/cages when needed as well as food, bedding and vet treatments. Please don't come and walk away with your new pet - remember all the little faces left behind, waiting their turn. We need to keep going for a long, long time. We have already helped close on to 5,000 animals - so please help us with the next 5000+.
28/07/08
We have been headline news and we have been on Anglian news due to having to shut our doors.
We have found it hard to make the decission to close our doors and since it was made we have still had more than 15 calls a day to take in unwanted pets!
We are in debt of £6000 and each day it increases - we have wonderful pens (DONATED) but no money to feed the animals, we have been told to let the big boys, who know what they are doing is an insult to any charity who is run by volunteers not paid staff it is an insult to trustees who put their homes on the cards for what they believe to be right.
NANNA needs money - yes - but we need good forever homes more, without homes we will shut our doors for good, money will help the short term situation but this county needs to look at the future and try to we work out why this is happening.
In the meantime NANNA will continue to look after the animals we have until new homes are found for them, we will continue to try and assist the animals who need to come into us and we will continue to raise funds throughout the yeevery weekend.
What have we looking for new homes:
Cats & Kittens - 65
Rabbits - over 60
Rats - over 40
Chinchilla's - 12
Ferrets - 12
Guinea Pigs - 20
This is without our little ones who will live with us until they go chasing butterflies in the sky. So please if you have any space for an animal to fill please come to us I am sure we will find the right pet for you. We will still do home visits, we are NOT looking for just any home - we are looking for - just the RIGHT home.
18/07/08
Well some very sad news, we are having to close our doors and this may not be for just a short time! At the moment we have so many animals in our care and every day we are receiving 15-20 calls for help to take in more animals. We have NO ROOM. Not only have we no room but we have no money to continue, we have been out every weekend fund-raising at two or three events, but we are not bringing in much money. The credit crunch and scare mongering is taking hold and sadly our little furry, feathered friends are the first to feel the pinch.
We have never appealed for running costs as we beleive it is our responsibility to find that money, we have taken in the animals so we should find the money. What we do need and are appealing for are HOMES. Without re-homing we have no cash flow, without the cash flow we can not survive.
We can bring in £200-£300 per week on re-homing but at the moment we are only doing £30-£50 per week. The fund-raising tops up what we need, but this is also drying up. PLEASE if you know anyone who wants a new pet ask them to look on this site I am sure we have what they are looking for. They must be prepared to go with our re-homing policies, we may need homes but not at the expense of the animals needs!
It is not just the money it is the animals, they need new forever homes not cages. They are well looked after but they need more and they deserve more so please help if you can.
08/07/08
Last week was a week from hell!
First we had four students from a school here doing work placement, but because they did not turn up for their interviews they had no idea what it was all about and what an eye opener they had. By the Wednesday the school phoned up to say they wanted to come out at 11 that day to see how the students were doing as they could not fit us in the following week!
This turned out to be a lie - what an example to set the children- they actually wanted to come out because one of the parents had concerns over their daughters work placement. A little too late in the day, had they turned up with their daughter for the interview they would have realised very quickly how much pooh is involved in animal work!
The teachers then went on to lie again by saying that the young girl had reacted to the animals - again showing the student how it is ok to lie if you are an adult! The school then removed the other students without telling us or Connexions and they have refused to see me or ring me to discuss the problems.
We can have about 50 students a year here at my HOME to train in animal care and welfare and most of them thoroughly enjoy their time here, some are, in their opinion, are to good to be here! NANNA invests a lot of time in these students and I have just had my utility and downstairs toilet all knocked into one to give them their own area and we have put in sofa's, microwave, kettle etc for them to use, they also have the own fridge and we are improving what is offered to them all the time. We have been inspected by Connexions and carry insurance for the students and because the parents don't bother it is our faulty that the children find it upsetting!
Sadly we had one of the little Degus we had in give birth to five babies and she had eaten three of them leaving bits of bodies in the cage and the students found them and got upset because they had to clean the cage out. I fully understand how distressing it is to find this but it happens, it is called nature and if they are going on to become vets or if they are going to go to Moulton College to do a course there they are going to have to get use to finding dead animals or putting down healthy animals just because that is what the owner wants! They also objected to having to wipe up a little blood that was in the cage - what will they do when they have to stick their hand up a cows backside?
I find it sad that a school has to lie to a work placement because they judge it to be better that way. I also find it sad that this local school has not even given us a chance to speak to the headmaster to try and work a way forward. If this is what they are teaching our children no wonder some of the children to day are growing up to lie and cheat their way through life and as for the parents - unwrap them, they will have to get their hands dirty soon and you can not always be there to pick them up. NANNA works hard for the animals and students and we have lots of youngests who absolutely enjoy their time here, helping the aniamls, crying when we lose one and just having lifes experiences that they would get no where else.
The other horrible event came from a past volunteer who had taken on two wonderful cats. The first cat was Jake who came to NANNA with the most horrendous leg injury and on closer inspection the poor chap had bone cancer - NANNA paid out an awful lot of money to get Jake back on his other three legs, sadly he had to lose his bad leg. When one of our volunteers came forward and offered to foster Jake we jumped at the chance and we continued to pay for his treatment whilst being fostered. Then in came an elderly siamese called Charlie who had problems and her owners had to let her go. Charlie came in with a history of cat flu' symptoms, but had had all her injections etc since she was born so it puzzled the vets as to why she was like that.
Stess can bring out symptoms of cat flu' all to often and sometimes all it needs is time and not to stress the cat out too much during their life. So when the same volunteer asked to take her too we said brilliant!
Now the volunteer has split from his parntner, he left the two cats behind and his partner asked us to take the cats back! We arranged for them to be picked up on the friday but we got so busy we could not do it so we left a message saying we would pick them up Monday or Tuesday. We did not know that the partner had no credit on the phone but of course this was our fault.
We tried to pick up Charlie and Jake on the Monday and the Tuesday without any luck. On the Wednesday we got a call from a young girl asking if we could take in two cats - the reason for them to come in was that her and her partner had took them in to help a family out because the cats owner had died and they had no-one in the family to take them in. So her partner felt sorry for the cats and he said they would have them.
They cats where not getting on with the cat they had already got so they needed to come in to us. I explained we were full and if she could ring us back we would take them in asap - she then asked if we took back our cats to which I said we did - where they NANNA cats - Yes they were Jake and Charlie!
I was quite annoyed to think that lies had been told as the owner was not dead! We arranged for the cats to come in and the girl said that her partner was the firms hero!
Next thing was the partner of the volunteer, rings me and start f-ing and blinding down the phone at me, stating I had no right to take the cats off these people as they wanted to keep them! - It turns out that the hero had gone into work and said that HE phoned me for the vaccination details and I had insisted that the cats came back to NANNA! - Why would I want the cats in when they had a home? When I asked why he had made out that the cats owner was dead he ignored the question and carried on the abuse saying NANNA was a money grabbing charity and he was going to shut us down!
That night Michael went around to the house with the hand in form where the girl had written that the reason for the cats to come into NANNA was because they did not get on with her cat!!!!!!
We then got three very abusive text messages from the volunteer calling us everything under the sun and that the animals live in a hell hole here at NANNA and that they were in terrible condition when he first got them - one had just under gone losing his leg due to cancer and the other had an on going condition and NANNA was the only charity willing to take her in - oh and by the way he did pay £35 for each cat like everyone else but we had spent out over £300 on the cats and we said we would continue with Jakes treatment if and when needed.
The sad thing is these guys split up and they split all their animals between them, but neither wanted the cats, also the girl stated that the cats were in a bad way when she got them - Jake is very thin but this could be due to his condition - and her hero parnter has now added to the lies.
All we have done is to be here for our cats to come home to us. Please if you know these guys and girl then make your own judgement at least know you have both sides!
What else has happened? We are getting 15-20 calls a day to take in cats and other animals, we are full and can't take in any more. We are slow on the re-homing and are running costs are increasing by the day. We need to re-home to keep the cash flow running - we top it up with our fund-raising events, but at the moment the fund-raisng is our only source of income.
The best about last week and every week is the wonderful little faces that come through our doors with or without the stress - they are what we are here for and of course the majority of the volunteers we get are good, dedicated and here for the animals - NANNA is not purrfect but we do put the animals first and we give them everything we can. When we win the lottery we will give them even more, but I guarantee if we had 1000 pens we will need 1001 and someone will feel the need to moan or blame us for their failings!
27/06/08
Today we took in three kittens who are in very poor condition, we need your help, please look on our special needs page, be prepared for a nasty photo but we need to raise funds for this kitten and we need it now! Just a £1 will help, please if you can donate then do this group of kitten are going to take a lot of care, money and of course love to get them through this ordeal. The operation is expensive the care takes time our love is free! 26/06/08
When NANNA started in 2004, no-one believed it was going to be easy, we had no money (we still have no money), we did not have a brand name, just a good name. We had no charity number, but one thing we did have was plenty of animals needing our help.
Over the 4 years+ we have assisted over 4500 animals one way or another and we never say no, perhaps we say not today but try on Monday or we offer to help by using the website, but we never say no and we now famous for that! Yes famous for not saying no, because just lately we have been told by people who are in desperate need of their pet or someone's pet to come into re-homing, that they should try NANNA's because NANNA never turn them away!
Are other charities beginning to pick and choose what they are taking in? One person told me that they phoned to try and get their 8 year old black cat in to a rescue and was told they had no space for any cat to go in and was turned away but then their daughter rang and said it was a young cat and was told it could go in the next day! This is sooooo wrong, if a cat needs to come in, the age and colour should not count, it is the reason for the cat coming in that counts surely.
Perhaps the owner has passed away or gone into care or their home is being repossed. Whatever the reason these people are desperate because they do not want to put their pet to sleep, but if so called rescue centres are picking what they take in on the grounds of how quick they can re-home, then shame on them, when an animal is in need then it is in need and no-one should turn it away if they have space.
NANNA has 45 cats looking for new forever homes at the moment, 20 are over 8 years old and 10 of those are black and all of them have been turned away by other charities. Older cats take longer to re-home and as a result of these older cats being with us our cost have risen to an all time high and we have, as always, no money in the bank and we are struggling to pay our bills but we will not turn an animal away because of
age or colour.
Who could turn this face away and sleep at night?
We are proud of our fame and we will continue to find places for the most needy!PLEASE
even if it's a £1 it will be a £1 well spent!
16/06/08
I thought I would just post this for you all to read!
If any of you would like to email your views, we could open a page of your comment, good or bad.
Hi Petrina,
Just to let you know my new e-mail address and I hope you and yours (family, volunteers and the doggies) are fine.
Now to my grievance (you can publish this if you wish), I really have to get this off my chest.
I have been reading a week in the life of Nannas for some time now and I honestly did not know how many mindless morons are out there in this world today.
Instead of a bit of understanding, tolerance and affection for animals and people alike there seems to be a lot of hatred and animosity not to mention downright stupidity out there.
For those of you who don't know me I am the previous Mum of Finn, Megan and Molly. Due to (genuine) circumstances beyond our control we had to rehome our precious babies. Petrina, Michael and Carla were kind enough to offer us a forever home for them.
We could not believe our luck to have found a home that would take all three of them together. Anyone who has ever owned a giant breed will understand how much work and dedication these animals require. I can assure you it is a trifle more than a houseplant needs (which is all some of you people out there should ever own). Now times this amount of dedication by three Newfies of "mine" and two of their own, not to mention the other two dogs.
And to those mindless morons out there (yes, Petrina they know who they are) who keep reporting Nannas to the various authorities, sit back and think for a moment (if you can manage that):
Do you really think we would have given our precious babies, who we had loved and cherished (and still do) for a number of years to someone who doesn't care for animals and doesn't know how to look after them?
Petrina, Michael, Carla and all the volunteers do an incredible job with the resources they have. Not everyone is cut out to open their home to all the waifs and strays that need a helping hand in life.
I have phoned Petrina late in the evening for a chat and Michael was still in the field, working. They had not even had their dinner at that time, because the animals needs come first with them.
We were sat in front of the TV, dinner and the washing-up done, with our feet up!!!
So instead of running them down why don't you take a more positive attitude. If you see something that could be better (and there's always room for improvement) donate some money, or help in other ways to help Nannas help those poor unfortunate little souls that can't help themselves.
NOW PLEASE, LEAVE THEM ALONE TO GET ON WITH DOING WHAT THEY DO BEST.
Belinda McLaughlin
Petrina, you can use my name if you want because I have said nothing here that I would not say to someones face.
Lots of Love Always Belinda and Jim