Westcotts raise £8,000 for Woodside Animal Welfare Trust

On 11 April 2024, Westcotts held a fundraising bingo event to raise money for Woodside Animal Welfare Trust. The evening, held at Plymouth Argyle, saw guests enjoy several rounds of bingo alongside good food and a raffle.

An animal rehoming charity based on the outskirts of Plymouth, Woodside is a large and vital safety net for vulnerable animals. As well as looking after young and healthy animals before they are adopted, the Trust has a collection of much loved resident pets that are unlikely to be adopted, such as the elderly and long-term sick. The animals include dogs, cats, rabbits and hamsters etc as well as a few hand reared sheep, goats and a pot-bellied pig. Some of the team were lucky enough to have a tour of the charity and met some of the animals.

The Trust relies on donations for its running costs which are high as many of the pets need veterinary attention and may be at the Sanctuary for some time as they recover.

The event was a roaring success with over 200 people attending and £8,000 raised for the charity, which was nominated as our charity of the year (2024/2025) for the Plymouth and Torquay offices.

Matt Keane, Westcotts Charity of the Year region lead for South Devon said: “This year the staff in both our Plymouth and Torquay offices voted to support Woodside as our nominated charity for the year. The team has put in a huge amount of work to ensure our first large event was a triumph – a special shoutout to Brooke Morey, Charlotte John, Emma Mills and Rebecca Kelly who worked tirelessly in the background to make this a success.

“The event went off flawlessly and was enjoyed by all of those who attended. Thank you to everyone who came along and kindly purchased numerous raffle tickets as well as to Ollie Jackman and James Fisher of Agile Business Comms Ltd who compered the evening amazingly!”

Lisa Darcey, Assistant Manager at Woodside Animal Welfare Trust said: “Everyone at Woodside is astounded by the money raised at the Bingo night organised by Westcotts. The kindness and generosity of those who attended on the evening, as well as the efforts put in by the Westcotts staff was truly amazing. With over 140 animals on site at present and the numbers growing these funds will be put straight to work on the animals in our care.”

Westcotts is committed to supporting the communities in which the team live and work. Matt Keane, Charity of the Year region lead for South Devon, has been working with the Plymouth and Torquay teams on ways to support the charity. This event was the latest in a series of fundraising initiatives, with previous events organised including a Halloween themed bake off.

At Westcotts, we are committed to supporting the communities in which we live and work. Matt Keane is our Charity of the Year region lead for South Devon and has been working with the Plymouth and Torquay teams on ways to support the charity.

This event was the latest in our series of fundraising initiatives, with previous events organised including a Halloween themed bake off. More plans are in the pipeline for some other exciting events, including several team members getting ready to tackle the 3 Peaks Challenge later in the year!