Hope Rescue voted Loteri Cymru’s new charity partner by the people of Wales

A dog rescue and rehoming charity in Llanharan has been voted Loteri Cymru’s new charity partner after winning the hearts of the people of Wales.

Hope Rescue received 3,085 votes from the Welsh public, fighting off 22 other charities to join Loteri Cymru’s charity roster.

The new charity partnership was announced by the all-Wales lottery on St David’s Day as it celebrates another year of raising money for charities across Wales.

Hope Rescue will receive an upfront donation of £5,000 together with ongoing financial support, thanks to lottery players in Wales who for £1 a week help raise vital funds for charities in Wales, as well as try their luck at scooping the £25,000 weekly jackpot cash prize.

Following an extremely challenging year for charities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Loteri Cymru gave the people of Wales the power to choose its new charity partner.

The People’s Choice vote was launched on St Dwynwen’s Day (Welsh Valentine’s Day) and nearly 14,000 votes were cast by the Welsh public keen to show some love to a charity that was close to their hearts.

Hope Rescue, which has been saving the lives of stray, abandoned and unwanted dogs since 2005, usually helps around 900 dogs a year. The charity says the initial £5,000 donation will go towards its ever increasing and essential vet bills, as well as towards the creation of a summer house which will be used by staff and volunteers for training, enrichment, and relaxation (for the dogs), as well as for future meetings with potential adopters.

Vanessa Waddon, founder and Transformation Manager at Hope Rescue commented “The past year has been undoubtedly tough on the charity sector, so we are incredibly pleased with the result! Thank you to everyone who voted for us and thank you to Loteri Cymru for the opportunity to receive some much-needed financial support.”

“We’re delighted to receive ongoing support from Loteri Cymru which will allow us to continue our much-needed work helping the most vulnerable pets and pet owners in our local communities. We worked so hard to keep our doors open during 2020 despite the challenges we faced. Storm Dennis flooded and closed our Pontypridd charity shop for most of the year. The Covid-19 pandemic saw us shut our commercial boarding kennels, grooming room, paddock hire and cancelling fundraising events, resulting in an income loss of £1,000 every single day at a time our services have never been needed more. This year is set to challenge us again with the ongoing restrictions of the pandemic continuing to impact our income sources but this support from Loteri Cymru will help us to continue to deliver our valuable services. We are over the moon!”

Hope Rescue join Loteri Cymru’s current partners LATCH – the Welsh Children’s Cancer Charity, Welsh Hearts, Youth Cymru and North Clwyd Animal Rescue (NCAR), who collectively received close to £40,000 of donations in the last year alone.

Phil Gerrish, marketing manager for Loteri Cymru, said: “2020 has been an extremely challenging year for charities in Wales. Despite restrictions destructing their income streams caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, charities have continued to fight to provide a vital lifeline to people and animals in need.”

“We were overwhelmed with the response to our People’s Choice vote. With thousands of votes received it just goes to show how much the people of Wales want to support charities during their time of need. We are exceptionally grateful to all those charities that participated in the People’s Choice campaign, as well as to their supporters who voted for the charity they felt most passionately about. Congratulations to Hope Rescue. We look forward to supporting you going forward.”