VOLUNTEERS KEY PART OF RESCUE HUB IN RUNNING FOR SHARE OF £20K POT
VETERINARY nurse Lauren Hall might never have found the career she loves had it not been for a local rabbit rescue charity. The 23-year-old from Kirkintilloch was a shy teenager when she first volunteered at Beloved Rabbits, one of three Glasgow good causes we are supporting through our Readers’ Choice Cash for Charities initiative.
Now Lauren and fellow young volunteers – like 15-year-old Caelan Shinie who is hoping to study veterinary medicine at university – are helping to shape the future of the industry. David Bell, who set up Beloved Rabbits with his wife Feona, explained: “Rabbits are misunderstood. Even vets do not have to study them as part of their basic training – they are still considered exotic pets.
“Young people come to us to volunteer, get great experience in the health and welfare of rabbits, which means they can take that knowledge into their jobs, changing the industry for the better.”
The Glasgow Times is giving local charities the chance to share in a £20,000 cash pot and how it is divided is up to you – our readers – to decide.
Our parent company’s charitable arm, The Gannett Foundation, is providing the cash.
The Glasgow charities in the running are cancer support charity Maggie’s, Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland and Beloved Rabbits.
To determine how the £20,000 is allocated, readers are invited to collect tokens which appear in our newspapers every day during November until the closing date.
You can then drop your tokens at collection points across our region, including supermarkets, restaurants and other prominent locations, or post them to Glasgow Times Readers’ Choice Cash for Charities Nominations, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow G32 8FG. You can also hand them in to our offices at 194 Bath Street.
Tokens must arrive by the closing date of Sunday, November 28. Each token collected will then be used to allocate cash to the nominated charity – so if your favourite charity collects 50% of all tokens collected, it will receive £10,000. The other Scottish charities in the running are Ardgowan Hospice, Man On Inverclyde, Erskine, Calum’s Cabin and Autism Rocks.
The Glasgow Times is also supporting the three Glasgow charities
I was quite shy, volunteering really helped me come out of my shell
in our More Than a Subscription initiative.
For every annual subscription bought in November, we will donate £10 to be split between them.
Lauren is delighted Beloved Rabbits is in the running for a funding boost.
“When I came here, I was 14 and quite shy, I’d also suffered from anxiety at school,” she says. “Volunteering really helped me come out of my shell.
“There was a girl on our care team who said she was going to be a veterinary nurse – I hadn’t even heard of that.
“When I got home I did a bit of research and immediately knew that was what I really wanted to do.”
After studying at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Lauren is now a qualified veterinary nurse but she still volunteers with Beloved Rabbits when she can.
Last year she raised £500 for the charity by climbing Ben Nevis.
“It’s a great charity, and it did a lot for me, so I’m really happy to help,” she says.