This is a unique event that brings together several small, local animal charities under one roof to promote, advertise and raise funds for their cause. The event is run by three local cat charities – the SRPCC Cat Welfare Trust, Lancashire Cat Rescue and A Purrfect Friend Cat Rescue and up to 16 other small charities are given a free stall.
One of the organisers, Carol Walker, of the SRPCC Cat Welfare Trust, said: “We think that the event is unique and it is open only to small North West based animal rescues and charities run entirely by volunteers, those with no central funding and certainly no paid executives etc. The original idea was to give these organisations a warm, welcoming space to network and swap ideas and to raise both funds and awareness, Saturday’s event was the 6th and we are happy to say that so far our we have achieved our aims”.
The fair hosts rescues for all sorts of animals, mainly cats but also dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, hedgehogs and donkeys and is now famous for its tasty home made cakes and fabulous raffle, amongst other things, with a queue at both, and a steady stream of visitors throughout on Saturday meant that the event raised over £3500 in total for all concerned. The takings from the admission, kitchen and raffle help the organisers to pay for the hall and continue to offer free stalls to the small rescues involved, with the surplus being divided equally between the three organising charities. The event also welcomes local cat celebrity, Spud The Cat With a Tash, who not only has a good social media following but has also appeared in several TV and stills adverts and has had cameo roles in BBC’s The Responder and This City Is Ours. Spud raises funds for the three charities involved in the fair and is one of the attractions that people come to see, one of his social media followers even comes over from West Yorkshire to visit him! This time the event was opened by the Deputy Mayor of South Ribble, Councillor Caleb Tomlinson, and his Lady Mayoress, Linda.
The next one will be on the 9th May 2026 and is one not to be missed so put it in your diaries now! Everyone who has a stall is given first refusal for the next but there is occasionally a spare stall available so if you run a small animal charity in the north west, especially one for an animal/bird currently not represented, and would like to be considered for a stall please do email Carol on [email protected].
2. Contributed
Councillor Caleb Tomlinson, Deputy Mayor of South Ribble, meets Spud The Cat With a Tash Photo: Submitted
