We wanted to celebrate the incredible work our charity partners have done over the last 12 months. In a truly awful year and in the face of a global pandemic, these amazing organisations and initiatives have kept on regardless, against some pretty serious odds – and we’re so proud to support them.
Thank you to everyone who nominated charities for our Community Fund, purchased a Happy Dog Cookbook, or ordered an Ultimate Christmas Box – you’ve helped us raise thousands for them.
Tails.com in local communities
Back in April, we received messages from dozens of local shelters, food banks and community groups who had found themselves running low on dog food donations. We stepped in to help, sending out over 153 tons of food from our factory in West London.
In the cities with StreetVet
We’ve worked with StreetVet for a while, and this year has been one of their toughest yet. With social distancing the norm, StreetVet’s usual outreach programmes were put on hold – as well as much-needed fundraising events.
But this didn’t stop them. StreetVet continued their incredible work for homeless communities and their dogs, changing and adapting how they work to support people often in very difficult circumstances.
Back in 2019 our Head Vet Sean McCormack and family food expert Annabel Karmel created our first-ever dog-friendly cookbook. With all profits going to StreetVet, the Happy Dog Cookbook has nearly sold out – and has raised over £13,000 for this great charity.
Summer and the Community Fund launch
In August 2020, we launched the tails.com Community Fund. Its aim is to donate £25,000 to different charities over the coming year. After the first round of grant applications we got to donate our first grant of £6,000 in October to two well-deserving charities (more of which, below!)
Run by the incredible Mary Wakeham, Refuge4Pets provides a vital lifeline in the Devon and Somerset area. Their work means victims and survivors of domestic violence can leave their situation with their pets – this can often be the difference between them leaving or staying.
Mary and her team received £4,500 to help them continue to provide dog beds and equipment to foster carers, safe transport between homes, and to support some vet bills the charity manages.
This Sheffield-based shelter provides an essential sanctuary for dogs in the local area. When we spoke to them about what they needed, they had just one request – £1,500 for new astroturf. It means the resident dogs can play outside, regardless of the weather (plus a much easier clean-up for the volunteers when it’s raining).
A song for Dudes & Dogs
Earlier this year, we met Rob from men’s mental health initiative, Dudes & Dogs. We’ve been in awe of the amazing work he’s doing to raise awareness of men’s mental health.
In another first – for us and the whole world – we worked with expert scientists and music producers to create a song for dogs – and our first ever vinyl record – with all profits going to Dudes & Dogs, so they can keep doing their great work.
The best Christmas presents
And to round off a year of firsts, this Christmas was the launch of our first ever Christmas dog gifts collection, with 10% from the sale of every Ultimate Christmas Box going to the Community Fund, too – which means we can help even more charities in 2021.
If you’d like to know more about any of these charities, we’ve popped links throughout the page. Here’s to a better 2021 for everyone, thanks for reading!