Blackadder star backs animal charity’s fundraising campaign

One of the stars from the hit comedy Blackadder has given his backing to a campaign by RSCPA Derby to raise cash to build a dedicated unit for small animals at its rehoming centre.

Sir Tony Robinson, who is the charity’s patron, is supporting the Save Our Smalls campaign, which aims to raise £10,000 towards the cost of building a Small Animal Unit at the Abbey Street shelter.

Licenced by the national RSPCA to take in animals that have been rescued from cruelty and neglect, the independently run charity is now required to build the unit in order to continue taking in small animals.

The entire project has an estimated cost of between £60,000 and £80,000.

Now, RSPCA Derby has launched a Crowdfunder campaign to raise some of that money, which will run until 31 March.

The charity is offering a range of rewards for different donation amounts. They include naming an animal, having a tour of the Abbey Street animal centre, receiving a personalised video from Sir Tony, and an animal cuddling experience.

Lucy Bell, animal care manager at RSPCA Derby, said: “We’re seeing more small animals being rescued from terrible situations and needing to come into our care, but we can only take in around eight small animals at a time and there isn’t another centre within 45 miles that can take them.

“By building the Small Animal Unit, we will massively increase our capacity and will be able to care for up to 40 at a time.”

Penny Lockwood, branch manager at RSPCA Derby, said: “We’ve been supporting our community for over 150 years, and we now need our community to come together and help us make this happen.

“Many people don’t realise that we’re independent and separate from the national RSPCA – we’re entirely self-funded and have to raise every penny for essential expansion projects like this ourselves.”

The ‘Save Our Smalls’ campaign is live now and RSPCA Derby is encouraging everyone to get involved by pledging support, sharing the campaign on social media, and spreading the word through their networks and communities.

To get involved, go to www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/saveoursmalls.

Sir Tony has also made a short video encouraging people to support the campaign. To watch it, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfgagxQwbpU .