Friday, August 10, 2012

Grand bookshop relaunch tomorrow!

By 7 pm this evening we decided the shop was as ready as it's ever going to be and staggered home, to be ready for an early start tomorrow. Our volunteers have repainted all the walls; put up extra shelving; shampooed the carpet; washed the windows; repaired the light fittings, then rationalised the book categories and filled the shelves with as much fresh stock as possible.

We'll probably still need to do a small amount of shifting around if the amounts allowed for the different    classes aren't yet quite right and some of the most interesting books are still in boxes that won't be accessible until we've completed the re-organisation of our basement stock-room. However there will still be lots of bargains and interest for book-addicts when we open tomorrow at 10 and the "hidden store" will gradually flow out onto the shop floor as we empty boxes.

Many thanks to former city MP Anne Campbell for agreeing to do the official opening and to everyone who worked so hard on the refurbishment or helped by loaning equipment or donating materials, including ASDA, Cutlacks, Halls of Cambridge, Cambridge Resale, Homebase, Lloyds TSB.

Special mention must go to Claire of ASDA's Community Life project who put in an enormous amount of work driving forward the renovation, and to Pat, Liz, Alison, Paul and Eileen who worked incredibly hard to get it done in the time available.

We still need your book donations!

Please keep donations of books, CDs, vinyl and DVDs coming: the interest of a shop like ours depends on a constant input of fresh items so that customers know it will always be worth their while to stop by and see what's new.

At the moment the bookshop is open from 10 am until 5 pm from Monday till Saturday (we'd very much like to recruit some extra volunteers to make it possible to open Sundays too).

Our current target is to increase our sales by £200 per week so that we can generate £1,000 profit which can be used to support our low-cost animal clinic.

PLEASE don't forget: DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS


Please visit the main RSPCA website for more information about keeping animals safe in very hot weather. Some dogs may be at risk even of heat stroke even if you are careful not to leave them in a car.

http://www.rspca.org.uk/allaboutanimals/pets/dogs/health/dogsinhotcars/-/article/CAD_DogsDieInHotCars

 http://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/faq/-/question/ENQCADKeepingPetsCool/category/Animal%20in%20distress/

http://www.rspca.org.uk/allaboutanimals/helpandadvice/seasonal/details/-/article/ENQ_Seasonal_Advice_Summer

Sunday, August 5, 2012

What's worse than the kitten season?

The caesarian season.

Just (12.30 am) had a conversation with a frustrated vet about the number of people who don't get their cats spayed and don't have any funds to deal with the consequences of something going wrong. 

It can cost over £1,500 to get an operation done to save a cat's life after her uterus has ruptured because she's been in labour for hours with a kitten stuck in the birth canal. In those circumstances, of course all the kittens will be dead.

Even an uncomplicated caesarian for a cat can cost over £500.

In comparison, spaying a cat so that she does not give birth is incredibly cheap - usually less than £70 - and there are animal charities almost begging to offer financial help to people who really can't afford the cost.