Big-hearted taxi firm wants your vote
A charity that gives free taxi rides to veterans in Renfrewshire is appealing for votes after reaching the finals of the National Lottery Awards.
Fares4Free, which partners with Renfrewshire Cab Company in Paisley, is competing in the Best Voluntary/Charity category.
The project beat off competition from over 700 organisations to reach the public voting stage in this year’s awards, which celebrate the inspirational people and projects who do extraordinary things with National Lottery funding.
The project with the most votes will be crowned the winner and receive a £5,000 cash prize to spend on their project, a National Lottery Awards trophy and attend a glittering awards ceremony to be broadcast on BBC One in September.
Fares4Free asks taxi drivers to give up four fares for free per month to help veterans, of all ages, who find it difficult to get out and about due to a variety of reasons, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Fares4Free founder David Gibson said:“We are thrilled that Fares4Free has made it through to the finals. With the help of a relatively small amount of National Lottery funding, we’ve been able to expand across Scotland, including Renfrewshire.
“To be named the UK’s Best Voluntary/Charity project would be wonderful recognition for the efforts of our all our drivers.” Paisley vets Kerry Molloy, from Love Street Vets, and Neil McIntosh, of Abbey Veterinary Group, share their views with you every Thursday. Today, Kerry looks at food allergies and how they imapct on the lives of cats and dogs.
Food allergies are becoming a very common cause of allergies in our dogs and cats.
A food allergy is the body’s abnormal response to harmless foods- the reactions are caused by the immune systems reaction to some food proteins in the intestinal tract ( the gut).
It’s a very complex process and it’s not very well understood yet exactly why and how this happens in our pets.
A recent study reported that about 10 to 15 per cent of all allergies seen in pets dogs are related and food and a staggering 40 per cent in cats.
In my previous article about skin allergies, I mentioned that there are breed and genetic factors involved, but there is no clear link as of yet with food allergies.
Food allergies can affect both sexes and can affect all ages.
Certain ingredients are more likely to cause food allergies in affected animals.
The most common ones we know about are