With the pandemic closing down our community fundraising, and the ring-fence around the government’s support for charities being a complete barrier to us, it’s fair to say things are a bit hard going. However, we’ve had some brilliant help from our friends and we’ve been thinking creatively about ways to raise funds to meet our £10k a year running costs through other means.

Of course, even though no one is ‘out there’ for fun community events, there’s no reason why we can’t put a bit of FUN into our fundraising. And speaking of which, we’ve just launched our charity photo competition …

 

Yes, our Pawfect Pet Photo competition is under way! It all takes place online, so keeping everyone safe with no community face-to-face, but still a way to enjoy some fun with our friends!

And speaking of which, friend of the PLIRB charity, comedian Jo Brand, is going to be our virtual judge!

Honourary PLIRB pooch Seamus gives full details over on the Giving Page, but here’s also a general overview below.

There are 6 fun categories (and no, you don’t have to be a cat)!

* FLUFFIEST PET * includes those of you with fluffy feathers and even fleeces … if you’re fluffy, get your photo in!

* HELPFUL PET * whether you’re a qualified assistance animal, or a pet that’s super helpful around the home, garden or work, this could be the category for you. All it takes is a photo of you being helpful (whether you were invited to or not) and Jo will judge you!

* SCARY PET * scary and hairy, bald and blood-curdling, toothy and terrifying? Don’t worry, you have a place in our hearts and our competition. Even if you’re normally nice but you got caught on camera having a bad day, let’s see that scary side of you!

* HAPPIEST PET * because everyone knows a goldfish can smile, right? Whether it’s a toothy grin or a ‘caught-on-camera’ grimace, give us a smile for the camera!

* ALL-ACTION PET * got a shot of your pet going all out to get among the action? Then this is your category – please share!

* ONE OF THE FAMILY * are you a dog, cat, even a rabbit that resembles its owner? Perhaps you’re a goat that thinks it’s one of the kids? However it works, let’s have a look at those family photos. For this category though, please be sure you’re happy for the persons to be included please.

TO ENTER:

1) Please send an email with picture attached to plirbphotocomp@gmail.com and within the email please include:

* Pet name

* Category for entry

* Contact telephone number.

* Please could you also state if you are happy for the photo to be shared on our social media?

2) For each photo entry you submit, it would be fabulous if you could make a donation of £5 on the Giving Page. Just use the donation button and add the pet name and category to the message part of the donation. You could also add your own message if you’d like to – we love to hear from our supporters!

The competition closes at 5 pm on Sunday 11th October. After this, no more entries will be accepted and Judge Jo Brand will have the seriously hard task of choosing the Pawfect Pet for each category.

Winners will be announced on #winningwednesday 14th October – which also happens to be Hastings Day, a nod to our local area and our Hastings-celebrity judge!

And prizes?

* Categories: for each category, the winner chosen by Jo will receive a rosette, certificate and a pack of our greetings cards (each winner can choose from our 8 lovely pack options, kindly sponsored by Static Trader).

* Overall: from the 6 category winners, Jo will also pick an overall competition winner, for the prize of a 20cm x 30 cm canvas, printed by Max Spielmann at Hastings (Churchwood Drive Tesco Extra). The canvas can be of any photo of the winner’s choice – it doesn’t have to be the competition entry (unless you want it to be of course)!

Thanks Max Spielmann and Jo Brand for making this possible!

The competition is open now, so please get your entries into our charity photo competition soon! And don’t forget to look out on our social media for pup-dates!