Fen Bank Finances Appeal
We need your help.
Dear fellow Fen Bank supporters.
Whilst our monthly income is quite good, it is actually not covering our outgoings to the tune of well over £1,000 per month. This equates to Fen Bank’s finances currently declining by over £15,000 a year! Why is that, you ask. The continual decline is explained by annual increases in the living wage, which in turn puts up National Insurance Contributions, Tax and Workplace Pensions. In addition to this, we have ever-increasing costs of dog food, veterinary bills, electricity, gas and fuel for the van. The situation each year will only get worse and we do not want ultimately to end up like some charities that have already had to close.
Our main source of income has always been our two shops. We used to be able to rely on the shops to pay for the wages of all our paid staff. Unfortunately, shop profits have declined over the years, our wages bill has gone up, and other shop overheads have also gone up, so the shops no longer pay their way as well as they have in the past. Our shops are still making us a profit, but many charities have had to close theirs as not being cost effective.
We rely very heavily on an incredible band of volunteers to keep us going without any cost to us, and who receive neither payment nor reimbursement of expenses (and that includes the trustees and our treasurer). Despite the many hours of help we get from them all we are still faced with a wages bill for the kennel staff that increases every year.
Some of you may have already looked on the Charity Commission website, which amongst other things summarises the finances of all registered UK charities. You will see that Fen Bank has a decent amount of money in reserve but this is a contingency amount and a requirement of the Charity Commission, and held to cover any misfortune at the Sanctuary and to keep us running if our income suddenly dries up completely. It also generally goes down each year for the reasons shown above.
Please understand that every penny spent at Fen Bank is for the welfare of our greyhounds. As an example, it costs us about £10 per week to feed one of our hounds. With the twenty hounds in residence, that is about £200 per week just in food. Vet bills are obviously unpredictable.
We really want Fen Bank to keep operating and to keep looking after and rehoming our lovely hounds for many years to come. To make sure this is possible we would ask you to consider signing up for a regular monthly contribution of £2, £5, £10, £15, £20,or even more to help cover these increases please. In addition, if you could also fill in the Gift Aid Form, your contribution will increase by 25%, thanks to the Government and at no extra cost to you. Our regular donations have declined over the years as sadly many of our older and very generous supporters are no longer with us.
We would really appreciate your help. Our Bank details are:-
A/c No.: 41443224
Sort Code: 40–42–05
Ref.: Appeal
Or you can fill in the attached downloadable form for a standing order and Gift Aid form if you would like to.
FBGS-Standing-order-Jul-15.pdf
Gift-Aid-Form-Nov-15-multiple-donation.pdf
We really appreciate any help you may wish to give us. The greyhounds all send their thanks to you.
