Animal rescue centre near Shrewsbury raffles luxury Christmas hamper to fund urgent roof repairs

Several dogs at Grinshill Dog Rescue are currently housed beneath its ageing main kennel block which has a leaky roof.

• You can donate £5 to enter the raffle here

Staff have struggled to maintain the building, but after heavy rain water is now seeping through one of the kennels, causing significant damage - a growing concern as winter sets in.

The centre has been quoted £11,000 for repairs - a sum that it says is challenging to raise. To help cover the costs, the rescue centre is raffling a luxury hamper this Christmas.

The hamper, valued at around £140, is filled with dog treats and items, including a collar and tag, a green coat, shampoo, toys, blankets, a teddy (including one for a human as a thank-you), a calendar, and more.

Emily Cartwright, who works at the rescue centre, said the roof issues have been ongoing for some time but now need urgent attention.

She said: "The kennel houses four of our sanctuary dogs. At the moment it's leaking and obviously with the worsening weather it's not improving. 

"We're especially worried about one of our dogs, Doug the collie, he's been in our sanctuary for a couple of years now and his kennel is just currently leaking. He is warm and he's dry, but we're just worried that it's not going to get any better.

"With it being winter, we want to get that sorted. We've managed to raise around £6,000 on our roof appeal but the hamper is just another another final push to hopefully just raise a little bit more to it.

"It's quite difficult because not many people know where we are and we're quite a small charity. We don't get as many funds as other big charities, so that that's a bit of a disadvantage."

Each entry to win the hamper costs £5. Donations can be made via the rescue centre's JustGiving page, where supporters are asked to provide their name to be entered into the draw. The draw will take place on December 23.

Emily added: "It would mean so much to us if we raised the funds to sort it out. We're amazed at how many people support us. We are so thankful for people's continued support and help for our small charity which is amazing."