Animal welfare charity, to receive a €5,000 donation

Last month, the Group launched a special animal draw to support those organisations whose core charitable purpose is the advancement of animal and wildlife welfare, including the prevention or suppression of cruelty to animals and wildlife, or the prevention or relief of suffering by animals and wildlife. Drogheda Animal Rescue (DAR) was chosen among ten animal welfare charities set to receive donations of €5,000 as part of the Movement for Good Awards.

Drogheda Animal Rescue in Co. Louth provides shelter and care to abandoned, strayed, neglected, abused, and injured dogs and cats. The organisation nurtures the animals before finding them new homes. It promotes responsible pet ownership and awareness of animal welfare in Ireland.

Holbrook Animal Rescue in West Sussex, Pawz For Thought in Tyne and Wear, Pumpkin’s Wildlife Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre in London, Dogs 4 Rescue in Greater Manchester and Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary in North Yorkshire are also among the causes to receive the awards.

More than 104,000 people gave their time and nominated the animal welfare causes they cared most about to receive one of the ten special grants that were available. The winning charities were then chosen at random from over 2,600 charities that were nominated.

Since the awards began, more than 1.6million nominations have been received resulting in over 2,200 charities benefitting from valuable donations. Among the Irish animal charities that have benefited in the past are: Galway Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals, Phibsboro Cat Rescue, Seal Rescue Ireland based in Wexford, The Haven Rescue Tipperary, Dundalk Dog Rescue, Wicklow SPCA, My Lovely Horse Rescue Company in Offaly.

Commenting on the winners’ announcement, David Lane, Managing Director for Ecclesiastical Insurance Ireland, said: “We would like to thank every single person who took the time to nominate an animal charity as part of the Movement for Good Awards. We know that €5,000 can make a huge difference to the incredible work that animal charities do.

Congratulations to the ten winners and specially to Drogheda Animal Rescue here in Ireland and we’re looking forward to seeing how this financial boost will help animal welfare.”

Lisa Martinez, Chairperson and Charity Trustee for Drogheda Animal Rescue, said: “Drogheda Animal Rescue is delighted to have been awarded €5,000 as part of the Movement for Good awards and this would not have happened without the support from our followers and those who are familiar with the rescue work we do. DAR is a registered charity run solely by volunteers who give up much of their time helping animals in need. We work 365 days of the year as rescue work is not a 9 to 5, Monday through Friday type of job. An animal needing help can happen at any time – day or night.

DAR also helps promote responsible pet ownership, and we are working on rolling out two new initiatives: Microchipping of Cats and Discount Neutering Scheme for Cats. Both of these initiatives will be aimed towards the pet cat owner. Many animal rescues already provide these services, and DAR would like to do so as well for the local community, however it will come at a cost to the rescue. With the €5,000 award from the Movement for Good, this money will be used to fund these two very important initiatives and could not have come at a better time!'”

This year, 420 charities will be awarded €1,000 donations, while 40 good causes will be awarded €5,000 sums via special grants throughout the year, aimed at helping charities in specific sectors. Winners will be drawn at random and the more times a charity is nominated the more chance it has of being selected.  Further gifts totalling €500,000 will also be donated in larger amounts later this year.

Benefact Group, the parent company of Ecclesiastical Insurance Ireland, has donated almost €200million to charitable causes since 2014 and aims to reach €250million in donations by 2025.

To find out how to support the Movement for Good Awards and to nominate a cause you care about visit www.movementforgood.com.