Page 16 - act-annual-review-2020-2021

YOUR SUPPORT HAS IMPACT
The Animal Care Trust (ACT) exists to advance
and improve animal health and care. We achieve
this through our support of the Royal Veterinary
College’s (RVC) wide range of clinical, research
and educational activities.
Intrepid Fundraisers
We have fundraisers all over the country who
dedicate hours of their time to raise vital funds for
the ACT. Many have witnessed the expert care of
the RVC first-hand, others have been introduced to
the RVC through their vital research into diseases
such as epilepsy and IMHA. In 2020 and with all
events cancelled, Lynne Bevilaqua and her team of
volunteers took their beloved dog shows online to
raise funds for research into IMHA. The group known
as “Phoebe’s Friends” in memory of just one of the
wonderful pets struck down by this awful disease,
raised over £8,000 during the pandemic and we are
in awe of their achievement.
Appealing for support
While the pandemic continued to make life difficult for
everyone, our supporters continued to respond to our
appeals for help. For Christmas 2020 we launched
an appeal for a new ophthalmology microscope (see
page 15), and raised over £8,000. Then in March we
ran our first ever spring raffle and the response was
incredible with over £12,000 raised.
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The ACT Tailwaggers Club –
pets helping pets
Spring 2021 saw the launch
of a new membership scheme
to celebrate our pets and to
connect them with fellow pets
in urgent need of specialist
help. Every penny we receive
from our ACT Tailwaggers
directly supports the RVC’s hospitals and any animal,
whether canine, feline, equine, reptile or exotic (with
or without a tail) can become a member. In the first six
months, the ACT Tailwaggers raised nearly £7,000,
supporting research into innovative new liver surgery
and pioneering treatments for pancreatic cancer.
We are looking forward to expanding this special
community over the coming year.
Running on a whole new level
In Spring 2020, the London Marathon was postponed
because of the pandemic. Our running team had
been fundraising and training for six months when
they discovered they’d need to keep up the hard
work for another six months! When the 2020 race
finally happened that October, rather than pounding
the streets of London it was a virtual challenge and
our runners had to create their own marathon routes.
They were certainly up to the challenge and took
to their local streets, recruited family and friends to
wave them on and fashioned finish lines from that
most precious of pandemic household goods…toilet
paper! Our running team astounded us with their
determination to support the ACT, continue their