One of my local rescues (Wild Hogs) is being expected to pay the remaining business rates on their premises. As stated below, their appeals to the council and the local MP have achieved nothing. I must admit that l considered charities to be 100% exempt, but looking into this further l discovered that this is not the case. This does not only apply to animal rescues but all kinds of charities.
This is the response from the council to their request.
" Having considered your application it is felt that although your aims are noble ones, there is no direct benefit from your charity to the council tax payers, and therefore although we have awarded 80% mandatory relief, we are unable to award
100% charitable relief."
The rescue states -
"This means that we have to now pay £860.61 for providing this free of charge service to the public (council tax payers)
If for example a hairdresser or a small business occupied our unit they would be entitled to small business rates relief and not pay a penny!!!
We provide 365 day a year rescue for hedgehogs, have a team of around 40 volunteers to provide this free service. Emergency phone, admitting hedgehogs, relentless fundraising, talks in clubs, groups and schools. Activity/educational days, work experience for schools colleges and universities in Gloucestershire.
We have also assisted Stroud District Council in surveying land that needed to be checked for wildlife so they could carry out maintenance for no charge from us.
Update*. We appealed against the decision, we had our local councillor and local MP visit and asked for help, we have been trying to overturn SDC decision for around a year. We have followed the necessary process and that hasn’t worked, so now we are appealing to the public."
If any GW forum members feel able to sign the petition, it would be much appreciated
A fundraising video made by my local rescue. An interesting behind the scenes look and lots of information (including how they test a hedgehog's eyesight as obviously they can't read a chart 🦔). There is also advice on attracting and feeding hedgehogs in your garden.
Be warned, the song at the end might become an earworm, but it's for a good cause
@AnniD I've had some drama with hedgehogs in my garden this year with one being a real AH. Always wants to sleep in the same house as the other one and only decides he's hungry whilst the other is eating. He's cute as a button but a regular PITA. They're both MIA at the moment, presumably they're on very important hedgehog business 🤭
They are such characters aren't they @februarysgirl ? He (?) just sat there and watched as the food was consumed, but l hadn't realised that he'd actually gone through the tunnel at the front and reached the entrance (there is another camera facing the front of the box). Just as he got there the timing on the camera ran out, l suspect he'd turned around inside the tunnel and retreated. There is another hedgehog we've nicknamed Usain as he runs here there and everywhere like a maniac. If he'd turned up there definitely would have been a fight over the food. On a serious note, my local rescue recommends having 2 entrance/exits in a feeding station. Apparently hedgehogs can get extremely aggressive and cause serious injuries fighting over food. If it was a regular occurance then l would do that, but it's very rare that 2 turn up at the same time 🦔🦔.
@AnniD I've got two entrance/exits but mostly the hog already eating will curl up into a ball until the other one turns around and leaves. I've caught a very nasty fight on camera before, the aggressor had the other hog's leg in it's mouth and was shaking it like a rag doll. Fortunately, the shakee managed to get away long enough to curl into a ball. I kept a close eye on things for the next few nights to see if there were any serious injuries but everyone seemed fine. I miss watching the footage of them every morning, hopefully they'll be back soon.
Last year I saw a fight. I thought the males were rough, but this was a female on female, with a third one watching, like yours it went for the skirt/back leg and shook it like a dog. Very violent.
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This does not only apply to animal rescues but all kinds of charities.
This is the response from the council to their request.
" Having considered your application it is felt that although your aims are noble ones, there is no direct benefit from your charity to the council tax payers, and therefore although we have awarded 80% mandatory relief, we are unable to award
"This means that we have to now pay £860.61 for providing this free of charge service to the public (council tax payers)
Petition · Stroud District Council - stop charging small charities business rates · Change.org
Update*. We appealed against the decision, we had our local councillor and local MP visit and asked for help, we have been trying to overturn SDC decision for around a year. We have followed the necessary process and that hasn’t worked, so now we are appealing to the public."
If any GW forum members feel able to sign the petition, it would be much appreciated
There is also advice on attracting and feeding hedgehogs in your garden.
Be warned, the song at the end might become an earworm, but it's for a good cause
Just as he got there the timing on the camera ran out, l suspect he'd turned around inside the tunnel and retreated.
There is another hedgehog we've nicknamed Usain as he runs here there and everywhere like a maniac. If he'd turned up there definitely would have been a fight over the food.
On a serious note, my local rescue recommends having 2 entrance/exits in a feeding station. Apparently hedgehogs can get extremely aggressive and cause serious injuries fighting over food. If it was a regular occurance then l would do that, but it's very rare that 2 turn up at the same time 🦔🦔.