The Retail Royalty Challenge

This month I took part in the Retail Royalty Challenge set by Moneysupermarket.com. To put it very basically, Moneysupermarket.com gave bloggers who were entering £30 each to spend on shopping and gifts to give to a local charity of the bloggers choice! I love shopping and love to give to charity so this couldn't have been a better challenge for me. Full details of the competition can be found here.
There's even a prize of a luxury hamper from Harrods, for the blogger who proves that their charity most benefit from the donations!

The luxury hamper from Harrods

The charity I chose to donate to was Celia Hammond Animal Trust, based in Lewisham, Canning Town and Hastings. As you're all aware I am passionate about animal welfare and the conservation of endangered animals so I chose a charity which provides help to animals that are close to my heart.

Celia Hammond Animal Trust has been providing refuge and care for feral cats and kittens found within the local area since 1986. They offer a rescue service both domestic and feral animals through calls from the public, local authorities and even the police and provide both short and long term shelter for animals and rehoming facilities for rescued animals.
They also provide low-cost treatments within their clinics for injured and sick animals as well as neutering and vaccinating animals whose owners do not qualify for the help from major charities and cannot afford veterinary fees.
Since it was founded in 1986 Celia Hammond, former top model in the 60's has been passionate about animal welfare and this has shown through the success of her animal trust and having received numerous awards including RSPCA's Richard Martin Award for her life-long dedication to animal welfare and Linda McCartney Award for Animal Welfare.

Five tiny kittens found in a cardboard box in Peckham. All a little dirty but no severe problems.

Lets look at what I chose to buy for Celia Hammond Animal Trust!

I browsed the internet for hours looking on websites such a moneysavingexpert.com and mysupermarket.co.uk to look for the best deals on the things that I wanted and made a huge list dividing the stores I found and the deals from the stores. I then narrowed down my list to the products with the most value for money then made my way to the nearest high street to pick things up!

I first visited Poundland, I shop here often for pet supplies such as puppy pads and small toys for my dog so I knew there would be some bargains there!
I picked up two fleece blankets which I know the cats and kittens are in need of along with two sets of feathered toy balls and a tickler toy for the cats to play with.
2 fleece pet blankets, £2.00 | 2 two packs cat balls, £2.00 | cat tickler toy, £1.00

I then made my way to Wilkinsons where I picked out some more toys, cat milk and milk drops.
3 Bottles of cat milk, £1.77 | 2 packs of three cat balls, £2.50 | cat scratch toy, £1.00

Finally I made my way to Asda where they always have cat food and treats on offer!
After spending about an hour in the pet isles I finally picked out A huge crate of Whiskas cat food, a box of wet kitten food pouches, a box of dry kitten food and lots of treats. Oh and more toys!
Whiskas 12 pack tinned food, £6.00 | Asda Tiger Wet kitten pouches, £2.68 | Whiskas Kitten Biscuits, £1.08 | 2 packs Dreamies treats, £2.00 | Milk Drops, £0.25 | Cat tid bits, £0.80 | Cat nip toys, £0.70

Overall total: £23.78

Because I had a little money left over, which I didn't realise until I add up all that I had purchased. I decided to donate the rest of the money via their donation link on their website!

I visited Celia Hammond Animal Trust today to give all these lovely goodies to the cats and kittens but sadly it was a very busy day for the staff there and a lot of them were off sick so I couldn't be shown around or shown the cats as they were being fed and groomed. I was assured that I can visit in future either on one of their open days or on another occasion. The staff at reception thanked me for the donations and I felt happy that I could give such lovely things!
It's kitten overload at the Lewisham branch as many cats breed over Spring and Summer and many kittens go unwanted or are homeless when they are born.

These two beautiful 12 week old kittens are Tammy and Todd, found in a cardboard box along with their siblings and cousins.

This mum and her babies were rescued from a garden in Wandsworth where an abandoned mattress was their home. After two weeks in Lewisham branch all were fostered by a kind lady and now she owns the mother cat and one kitten and has fostered the others until they are weaned off the mothers milk.
Beautiful story.

This is Fry, a gorgeous 10 week old kitten that was founding hiding under the wheel arch of a car. He was dirty, flea ridden and very hungry but otherwise in fine condition.

Here's Parker and Justin, two gorgeous ginger 10 week old brothers. They were rescued eight weeks ago after being discovered abandoned in a sealed box in woodland along with their mother, aunt and other siblings. Such a sad story and I hope they all find perfect homes soon.

Naomi from the Animal Trust sent me the loveliest email earlier today after I had visited the trust and dropped off all the goods for the cats.

I hope to get to visit the Animal Trust again soon and I apologise for the lack of photos. I will get plenty the next time I visit.
I feel so happy for getting involved with this charity. They take in and look after so many cats, kittens and other animals, they deserve all the support for what they do and I look forward to helping them again in future.

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