Save Tiverton Blue Cross Rehoming Centre

Save Tiverton Blue Cross Rehoming Centre

The Issue

Devastating news was recently discovered that Blue Cross Tiverton Rehoming Centre has been marked for imminent closure, due to financial constraints of the national Blue Cross charity.

The belief of Blue Cross Head Office appears to be that the physical rehoming site requirements of the county of Devon can be met by a 2 person, remote, volunteering pet fostering service out of Exeter.

I firmly believe the rehoming services and aftercare offered by the Tiverton Centre has vital importance. It ensures the highest quality of care to homeless pets, and is highly valued by our local community. The centre in Tiverton covers the needs of a wide area which purely local volunteer fosterers would certainly struggle to fulfil. For our local fosterers, Exeter is too distant to offer the level of support that it should provide. Devon is one of the largest counties and this would leave a huge area to be covered; especially with complex foster cases.  

Blue Cross's apparent strategy to expand their remote services but reduce their physical rehoming facilities is, in my opinion, a move that is fraught with problems. It will not offer the same level of support to the people who use its services or the animals in the charity's care. I also believe public donations and legacies to the charity as a whole will decrease, as most people have the rehoming centres in mind when they donate to Blue Cross.

RESCUE AND REHOMING IS THE HEART AND SOUL OF THE BLUE CROSS.

It's anticipated that a record number of pets will be given up for rehoming as people return to work this year. Now, more than ever, we need Tiverton Rehoming Centre to remain open and offer vital support to pets in need.

The staff at Tiverton - the dedicated, skilled team on the front line of Blue Cross work - are involved in various consultation processes. They are therefore unable to discuss or respond to this devastating news. As a volunteer I have taken it upon myself to speak on their behalf.

I've always been proud to be part of the work of Blue Cross and I ask Head Office to reconsider closing the Tiverton Rehoming Centre.

Please sign this petition to let Head Office know how much Tiverton's work means to us and how important its survival is.

avatar of the starter
Susan Lane-smithPetition Starter
Media enquiries
This petition had 15,454 supporters

The Issue

Devastating news was recently discovered that Blue Cross Tiverton Rehoming Centre has been marked for imminent closure, due to financial constraints of the national Blue Cross charity.

The belief of Blue Cross Head Office appears to be that the physical rehoming site requirements of the county of Devon can be met by a 2 person, remote, volunteering pet fostering service out of Exeter.

I firmly believe the rehoming services and aftercare offered by the Tiverton Centre has vital importance. It ensures the highest quality of care to homeless pets, and is highly valued by our local community. The centre in Tiverton covers the needs of a wide area which purely local volunteer fosterers would certainly struggle to fulfil. For our local fosterers, Exeter is too distant to offer the level of support that it should provide. Devon is one of the largest counties and this would leave a huge area to be covered; especially with complex foster cases.  

Blue Cross's apparent strategy to expand their remote services but reduce their physical rehoming facilities is, in my opinion, a move that is fraught with problems. It will not offer the same level of support to the people who use its services or the animals in the charity's care. I also believe public donations and legacies to the charity as a whole will decrease, as most people have the rehoming centres in mind when they donate to Blue Cross.

RESCUE AND REHOMING IS THE HEART AND SOUL OF THE BLUE CROSS.

It's anticipated that a record number of pets will be given up for rehoming as people return to work this year. Now, more than ever, we need Tiverton Rehoming Centre to remain open and offer vital support to pets in need.

The staff at Tiverton - the dedicated, skilled team on the front line of Blue Cross work - are involved in various consultation processes. They are therefore unable to discuss or respond to this devastating news. As a volunteer I have taken it upon myself to speak on their behalf.

I've always been proud to be part of the work of Blue Cross and I ask Head Office to reconsider closing the Tiverton Rehoming Centre.

Please sign this petition to let Head Office know how much Tiverton's work means to us and how important its survival is.

avatar of the starter
Susan Lane-smithPetition Starter
Media enquiries

The Decision Makers

Chris Burghes
Chris Burghes
CEO, Blue Cross
Responded
“Blue Cross can today confirm that, following in-depth consultations, we will be changing our presence in Devon by closing our rehoming centres in Tiverton and Torbay and opening a new rehoming, behaviour and advice unit in Exeter. It was an incredibly difficult decision to make but it is the best one for the future of our charity and so we can help more pets. The new facility will have specialist behaviourist support for owners experiencing difficulties with their pet, as well as experts available for people and their pets to provide help and advice. We want to reassure people we remain very much committed to helping pets and people in Devon and being an active part of the local community. Regrettably, as part of our proposals for the two centres, despite working to avoid job losses, 18 colleagues, who have been such valued members of the Blue Cross family, will be made redundant. Five people took voluntary redundancies. We are pleased to have found new job opportunities within our charity for five individuals. It is a sad day for Blue Cross to lose some of our wonderful people and they have our heartfelt thanks and our full support at this time. We fully understand the strength of feeling shown by some supporters over the proposals. We stress that throughout the closure period and beyond, all pets which need our services will continue to receive them. It is a decision taken with a heavy heart, and only comes after we explored and listened to all other proposals in several meetings with staff during consultation. We will be speaking with our wonderful volunteers at the centre, and we hope they continue with their amazing support for our charity as we move forward. The plans in the area are part of a broader, UK-wide strategy to reshape and expand our services, putting Blue Cross on a more secure financial footing as we seek to save £1million this year, and helping us towards our vision that no pet or owner goes without help. These plans have been accelerated by the pandemic, which has not only required us to make significant changes to how we operate, but also the possibilities working in new ways can bring.”

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Petition created on 1 May 2021