Charity’s delight as Council collaboration secures new Wellington home

A charity has expressed its delight and thanks to Telford & Wrekin Council after a collaboration between the two organisations secured a town centre space to generate vital funds for needy cats. 

The volunteers at Cats Protection Telford & District had been dismayed to discover their popular town centre market stall had not been safeguarded as part of the Wellington Market regeneration, however after months of negotiations, they will be supported by the Council’s Regeneration team to take over the space previously held by Spirit of Bulgaria in the Market Piazza, on Market Street, just inside the market gateway. 

The current Cats Protection stall will close on Saturday 1 November and reopen on Tuesday 25 November in its new shop-based location. 

Tracy Hitchcock, Coordinator for Cats Protection Telford & District, says: “We would like to thank our fantastic market stall customers for all their support and loyalty over the last three years and for rallying around us as we were threatened with closure. We are grateful to the Council for continuing to work with us to find a solution that keeps us within the community. 

“The stall has gone from strength to strength and we are proud that it not only raises funds that enable us to rehome around 150 cats each year, funding their vet care as needed, but has become a community hub from which we have provided a wide range of support to cat owners. This has included the trap-neuter-release of 300 feral cats since the stall began. We also provided neutering for 1,862 cats in 2023 and 2024 with a further 156 neutered this year to-date. We have additionally supplied over 22,385 meals to cats across the local area via our Community Kitty scheme which provides donated cat food to owners who are struggling.”

Leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, Councillor Lee Carter, commented: “I am personally delighted that we have been able to find a new home for Cats Protection. I appreciate the news of the investment works into the market did cause the charity and volunteers some concern but throughout the negotiations, the Council remained committed to trying to find a solution with the charity and my thanks go to everyone involved in persevering until we found one!

“The once in a generation Market Refurbishment is a complex project, even more so when our commitment has always been to ensure the Market remains open while the work is underway and traders kept informed of works in progress.”

The new shop will enable the volunteer-run branch to continue its cat welfare work and support of local cat-lovers. It will provide information, advice and signposting to cat owners as needed, in addition to selling handmade goods such as jewellery, necklaces and earrings; soft knitted or crafted cat toys; paintings; knitted blankets and a wide selection of cat-themed goods such as notebooks, cards, wrapping paper and Cats Protection branded items including mugs, diaries, calendars and Christmas cards. 

There will continue to be a collection point for anyone wishing to donate cat food to Community Kitty and the volunteers are keen to receive any donations of new handmade items once they have reopened.  

Tracy adds: “We would be delighted to see our loyal supporters on our final day of trading at our current stall on Saturday. We will have light refreshments on offer and would love to explain more about our plans for the new store and of course, you can still grab a bargain.   

“We are so excited to have this opportunity, thanks to the cat-lovers of Telford and the Council, to continue at Wellington Market and for us, as volunteers, to raise money for the many cats in the Telford area that need our care.”

To find out more about Cats Protection Telford & District visit www.cats.org.uk/telford