Please display this poster if you have a suitable location

Next dog show planning meeting Thursday 16th June

Holly and Graham, winners of our last show

This will be a combined dog show planning and volunteers meeting at the Corner House Pub, Newmarket Road, Cambridge, starting at 7.30pm.

Anyone interested in helping with the dog show on 9th July, or volunteering with the branch in general, would be very welcome. The Corner House does excellent veggie or non-veggie meals if you would like to eat as well as chat.

Volunteers Meeting this Thursday

At the Corner House Pub, Newmarket Road, Cambridge, starting at roughly 7.30pm.

Post-mortem on RSPCA week and planning for the Gt. Shelford dog show which is now getting alarmingly close.

Hope to see you there.

Volunteer Recruitment meeting

Just a reminder that the next volunteers meeting will be this Thursday starting at 7.30 pm at the Corner House Pub, Newmarket Road, Cambridge.

All welcome.

Volunteers Meeting

The next volunteers meeting is this Thursday, March 17th. 7.30-9.30 pm at the Corner House Pub, Newmarket Road, Cambridge. All welcome.

Monthly Volunteers Meeting - WEDNESDAY 23rd February

Please note that this month's volunteers' meeting is one day earlier than normal, because our venue, the Corner House Pub, had a previous booking for Thursday.

From March we'll return to our normal time/date of 3rd Thursday in each month, 7.30-9.30pm.

Next Volunteers' meeting

Just to remind you all that our volunteers meeting is this Thursday at the Cornerhouse Pub on Newmarket Road.  They do good food, it's warm, and there will be drinks so if you have a free hour or two we would love to see as many of you there as possible.

Things will get started around 7.30pm so we look forward to seeing you there! Any questions about the venue etc. please get in touch. If you are unable to make this meeting don't worry and we hope to see you in February!

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Branch Volunteers Meeting

Put a note in your diaries.

The next informal RSPCA Cambridge volunteers meeting will be on 18th November at our charity shop, 61 Burleigh Street, Cambridge. 7.30pm start.

All welcome, coffee and biscuits provided. We will be continuing to plan our fundraising diary for the run-up to Christmas and the following year.

Next year will be the 75th anniversary of an RSPCA clinic in Cambridge and we need to fundraise hard to ensure it continues to provide a service over the next 75 years!

As the cost of veterinary treatment continues to rise, the clinic becomes more and more important for very low income pet owners in this area. At the same time the costs involved in running the clinic are also increasing and there are times when we feel we are on a treadmill with no way off.

In the current economic climate it's unlikely that we can increase donations of cash, so it's ever more important that we develop fundraising activities like events and shops which also benefit those who spend money in terms of entertainment or good value bargains.

Next Volunteers' meeting

Thursday 21st October, 7.30-9.30pm at our Charity Shop, 61 Burleigh Street.

Anyone interested in the work of the RSPCA is very welcome to come. There will be a discussion on planning our fundraising timetable for the coming year, so please be prepared to put forward any suggestions for events and activities you would like to see.

Volunteers' Meeting this Thursday

Next informal volunteers' meeting is this Thursday, 7.30-9.30pm at our charity shop, 61 Burleigh St. All welcome.

There's free parking after 7pm at the Adam and Eve St. car park just behind Burleigh St.

Next Volunteers meeting

Our next volunteers meeting will be on Thursday 19th August at our shop, 61 Burleigh Street, Cambridge. Meetings are from 7.30 to 9.30 pm and are fairly informal, so don't feel you have to stay for the whole time. If you're coming by car, there's free parking after 7pm in the Adam and Eve car park close by.

We use the meetings as an opportunity to raise more funds as well as a chance for you to meet us and for us to meet you, and the shop will be open for shopping during the evening.

If you're interested in the work of the RSPCA but not particularly in charity shops, please still try to come. There are only eight committee members trying to run a branch covering a very large area and it is almost impossible for us to arrange individual meetings with all potential volunteers. Regular meetings make it possible for us to keep you up to speed with what's happening and are the only practical way  to organise fundraising events like our RSPCA week collections. 

It's just not possible for one committee member to drive round to every person to drop off a collecting tin and the only way we can make RSPCA week and other events work for animals is to have a central meeting point where everyone periodically gets together.

Our most immediate need is for more shop volunteers and volunteers to help collect donated items and transport them to the shops. 

We need to raise at least £120,000 each year to run an adequate animal welfare service locally.

Frenetic week

Mare and foal looking for a cool spot under the bridge over the Cam

Took this picture of a mare and her foal looking for somewhere cool last week when I was cycling round all the Cambridge vets to ask them to display our volunteers meeting posters.

We got a reasonable amount of media interest in our appeal for more volunteers and donations to our charity shops, but I still feel there's a level of scepticism about whether we really need money. Answer: "Yes, we really, honestly do need money; we don't have some mystery source of funds and if we don't earn enough to pay our bills we will eventually close."

The volunteer meeting this evening did at least attract a few new people, some of whom are interested in helping in the shops. These have to be the highest fundraising priority at the moment because extra effort spent there immediately translates into more cash.

Holding the meeting at the shop meant we could use it directly as an opportunity to encourage everyone present to browse and buy, and we raised over fifty pounds. 

Next meeting will be Thursday 19th August 7.30-9.30pm.

Volunteers Meeting: Thursday 15th July

Next volunteers' meeting will be 7.30-9.30 pm on Thursday 15th July at our Burleigh Street Charity Shop (number 61, next to Primark). If you are coming by car, there is free parking after 7pm at the Adam and Eve Street Car park a few minutes walk away. (Adam and Eve street runs parallel to Burleigh st. and there's a pedestrianised link passage between the two.)

Anyone interested in the work of the branch will be very welcome.

We are particularly looking to recruit more volunteers to help in the shops; collecting donated sales items; fundraising and helping at events.

Volunteer Meetings: change of date and venue

We've decided to move the monthly volunteer meetings to our shop at 61 Burleigh st. as most people seemed to prefer a more central location.

The regular meetings will now be 7.30-9.30 pm on the third Thursday of each month (try saying that quickly!) They'll be fairly informal, so people can arrive and leave to suit themselves between those times. Please drop in if you're interested in finding more about RSPCA Cambridge and what we do locally.

Parking at the Adam and Eve Street public car park is free after 7 pm. Map below shows the shop location on Burleigh Street and the pedestrian access from Adam and Eve Street.

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Fiona has just pointed out that the next meeting, on May 20th, is the day following the training session for potential bookshop volunteers  on 19th May. If you are interested in volunteering at our bookshop (188 Mill Road), please go to the training session in preference to the general volunteer meeting if you can't do both. The general meetings will be a regular feature, so you won't miss out if you have to skip one or two of them.

The June meeting will be combined with the branch AGM and will be at the Friends Meeting House, Jesus Lane, Cambridge on 17th June (same times). Subsequent meetings will be at the shop again.

Next Volunteers' Meeting

The next volunteers' meeting is this coming Thursday (8th April) 7.30-9.30 pm in Ross Street Community Centre (off Mill road). All welcome.

Please note that the main entrance into the centre is round the side to the right of the building. There's a second entrance at the front, but it's usually locked in the evening.

Volunteers' Meeting

We will be holding volunteers' meetings every 2nd Thursday of the month at Ross Street Community Centre in Cambridge (just off Mill Road), between 7.30 and 9.30 pm. Anyone interested in the branch is very welcome to drop by, and we hope that one of the two local inspectors will be able to attend some of the meetings and answer questions about their work and the relationship between the branch and the inspectors.

The meetings are intended as a social event for all our volunteers where they can exchange experiences of helping with branch activities, and also as a focus for recruiting more helpers, and a chance for volunteers to meet members of the branch committee and ask any questions they may have.

RSPCA week April 26-May 2nd is our next big fundraising event and we need as many collectors as possible—even a few hours can raise as much as £20. We are also planning a sponsored dog walk in Histon, and more helpers, donors and shoppers are always needed at the three charity shops.

If we are to start giving emergency help via private vets again we need to raise an extra £30,000 each year.

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How to find Ross St Community Centre

There is limited parking at the centre (disabled bay, plus a few other spaces), but there is a car park within easy walking distance on Gwydir Street.