Sue Barrington

Hello, my name is Sue and I am the Fundraising Manager for Scruffy Dog Rescue Shropshire. We have an amazing project that needs the support of our friends, supporters and adopters to raise money to build a Meet & Greet Cabin. At the moment, there is nowhere on the site of Scruffy Dog Rescue where people can meet their prospective doggy adoptee under cover. A Meet & Greet Cabin has been in our daydreams for some time, and it really is time that we had a safe, secure, warmer, indoor space for our visitors and dogs. It will in essence be a very large garden room, and it will have its own secure fencing around it. Inside the cabin, there will be some seating, and a counter or table to deal with the official adoption paperwork as well as plenty of space for dogs to meet their new families. It will be a multi-purpose space too, as when it is not in use for Meet & Greet, it will be a room we can use for 1:1 training, teaching going in and out a different threshold, opening doors, closing doors, making indoor sounds which are very different to outdoor sounds for a rescue dog, and it will all help with their settling in period in the home, and the best thing of all, it will be a dry space. For many years we have dealt with some of the most terrible weather conditions whilst managing an adoption meet and greet appointment, it’s not the best experience for new adopters, and certainly not for the dogs or the team. We have often been soaked to the skin and very cold meeting adopters. And it’s true to say it’s not the best experience in very hot weather either, so the shade of a cabin will be appreciated by all when the sun is out. We can hardly wait. The Meet and Greet Cabin will be sited in the main drive, very near the main entrance gates, with organised access for visitors and their dogs. We are very excited. It is our aim to raise £20,000. This will help our many visitors from getting so wet in poor weather. One of our adopters, Ewelina, who adopted SDR dog Frank in 2021, is going to help us fundraise for this cabin, by way of her story below. Ewelina and Frank are huge supporters of our cause, and they’ve agreed to share their story which we hope will boost funds, whilst also keeping Ewelina motivated in her personal quest. All funds raised will be for Scruffy Dog Rescue Shropshire Fundraising to go towards the Meet and Greet Cabin. We hope Ewelina’s story inspires you, whilst at the same time helps our fundraising efforts. Any donation is much appreciated. Here is her story. Becoming an Age-Group Triathlete by Ewelina Westcott: In 2015, after appendix surgery, I couldn’t even walk from my bedroom to the bathroom. I was too weak. This was 3 weeks before my wedding in Poland and moving to UK as a newlywed. In December 2021 I adopted my dog Frank from Scruffy Dog Rescue Shropshire. Fast forward to today, and I’m currently training six days a week with one goal in mind: to qualify as an Age-Group Triathlete and represent Poland on the international stage and that doesn’t even involve Frank’s exercise. He has his own training routine consisting mainly of sleeping, walking, hiking, running, eating and snuggling. He’s currently excelling at all the disciplines! My Journey So Far: I didn’t grow up swimming competitively. In fact, I taught myself how to swim by going to an unsupervised lake and quite literally trying not to drown. It wasn’t pretty, but it built resilience. Since then I’ve completed multiple triathlons across distances: Super sprint (200m swim, 10km bike, 2.5km run) Sprint (400m swim, 20km bike, 5km run) And even a half-Ironman distance triathlon (1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run) All before adopting Frank so training was much easier to fit in. I remember leaving around 8.30am to go to parkrun, then straight onto a bike ride, followed by a swimming session and not returning home till 6pm. Now, I’m going back to basics: re-learning how to swim properly, building up my bike skills and trying to get faster. What My Training Looks Like: My weekly routine includes: Swimming sessions to rebuild technique and endurance Cycling and running workouts to improve speed and stamina strength training to stay injury-free AND yes… cani-crossing (running with Frank because he needs his exercise too) as well as squeezing in Frank’s daily walks and training sessions. All of this, while balancing a job, being a dedicated dog mum and the usual life admin we all have to deal with It’s a constant juggling act, and a physically and mentally demanding one. What’s an Age-Group Triathlete? In triathlon, athletes are divided into categories based on age rather than being professional or elite. An age-group triathlete competes in their age category (e.g., 25–29, 30–34, etc.) and can qualify through official races to represent their country at international championships. It’s highly competitive, and qualifying requires hitting strict performance standards, not just finishing races. Why Poland and Not Great Britain? Although I live in the UK, I’m not a British citizen. That means I’m not eligible to compete for Great Britain unless I go apply for Citizenship, which would increase costs and delay the whole process. Poland is where I have eligibility, and it’s the country I’m aiming to represent. The Plan - Here’s what the next few months look like: May, June, July - train, eat, sleep, repeat and stay injury free July (Poland): Compete in a qualifying race. September (Spain): If I qualify, I will represent Poland at the Age-Group Championships. Every bit of support by way of a donation to this page will keep me motivated and power me on. None of the funds raised is for me. All donations will be going to Scruffy Dog Rescue Shropshire to help their fundraising, and I am delighted to be part of their current special project to build a Meet & Greet Cabin so that prospective adopters can meet dogs in a safe, quiet and dry environment. How wonderful. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you so very much for reading. Please be as generous as you can, and help us get under cover in our super duper Meet & Greet Cabin. We will keep you updated about the fundraising, and the cabin, and Ewelina will keep you updated about her progress, with some amusing tales which of course will include Frank from time to time.

My name is Sue and I’m the voluntary fundraising manager for Scruffy Dog Rescue Shropshire. May I introduce you to Timmie, who is a female rescue dog from Romania. She was adopted from Scruffy Dog Rescue by a lovely family back in 2021, a scared little pup, who lacked confidence and it took many months for her to settle. She was vacant in expression and so shut down and it was evident that kennels or a foster home wasn’t the best option. She needed her forever home. She is so loved by her family, who have worked tirelessly to a point where she would wag her tail, walk well on a training lead and enjoy sofa time. Then 2 months ago, they noticed she was limping quite badly. A vet visit was made and painkillers/anti inflammatories were prescribed but to no avail. Further vet visits were made with same medication plus one other and a referral for x-rays. The x-rays showed issues with both knees in her rear legs. Timmie needs two surgeries, one on each rear leg. The surgery is called TPLO, or tibial-plateau-leveling osteotomy, a surgery performed on dogs to stabilize the stifle joint after ruptures of the cranial cruciate ligament. The family have insurance but it covers only one of the surgeries, then their limit is reached. We have seen the estimates and each surgery costs £3,900 plus pre op and post op X-rays and medications costing an additional £600. The family have a good level of insurance but who would have known both cruciate ligaments would need surgery? The SDR Fundraising Team have received a very generous donation through a legacy to be used for a dog in need. We will be match funding GoFundMe donations with this legacy donation to help Timmie, a dog in need. So every donation received here will be match funded by Scruffy Dog Rescue Shropshire Fundraising. We wish to raise £2250 through crowd funding and we have 10-12 weeks to do it. (Update 9/7/25, her second surgery is being scheduled in 6-8 weeks). Timmie has her first surgery on Tuesday 8th July under insurance and her second surgery can be scheduled for 12 weeks later. Remember your donation will be match funded. This is an amazing opportunity to help Timmie be pain free and after her poor start in life, she deserves this. Thank you for reading and for your participation in this special fundraiser. Please share our GoFundMe link on your own social media to spread the word and help us reach our goal.