On behalf of the cats and slaves at Paws Inn I want to re-iterate our heartfelt thanks to everybody who played a part in the 2012 Christmas Auction, and in that I include every single person who made a bid. Let’s face it, no matter how much hard work goes into the organisation (and it does), without the bids it would fail. But Purrs peeps never fail and your generosity this year has been awesome. It’s a very overused word nowadays is awesome, but in this context it’s the only one that will do, because according to my dictionary it means ‘inspiring overwhelming wonder, admiration and respect.’
Purrs members are always generous but I am in no doubt that this year’s stupendous total is a tribute to Teresa. She was a truly inspirational lady. Many’s the time when Paws Inn was full and she was feeling very poorly, I’ve watched her answer the phone to an emergency then burst into tears saying ‘I shouldn’t have to do this, I’m not up to it.’ ‘Then don’t’ I would say. It took me a long time to understand that she really did
have to do it, she was incapable of not doing it, and my goodness, she did it well. Knowing that we have so much to live up to is more than a little scary; we know that Paws Inn cannot be the same without Teresa, but to have your support at this difficult, transitionary period means more than words can say. I say ‘we’ but I’m really just a mouthpiece, all the hard work is done by Teresa’s husband Rob and Teresa’s right-hand woman Debbie.
O.K. Gwyneth Paltrow eat your heart out because I must now single out a few people for special thanks. I’m bound to miss somebody vital
so I apologise to you in advance. First mention must go to Tan for making it all possible by creating Purrs, whose aim has always been to support cat rescue. Didn’t she do well.
Anyone care to hazard a guess as to how much Purrs has raised over the years? (I confess don’t know the answer). Next must come Sam for badgering so many traders into donating items, and then having to store, pack and post the majority of them, which must have taken an age.
Thanks also to everyone who auctioned items (and paid the postage on them).
For keeping the whole thing on track over two busy weeks and getting the winning bids and provisional total up so quickly at the end, thanks go (in no particular order
) to Susanne, Kay, Louise, Jen, Shonagh (JackSpratt) and of course Gill, who announced her retirement after the 2011 auction but was clearly still beavering away behind the scenes.
You can rest assured that we will spend the money wisely, and we hope to have some photos to post of our first purchases in the not too distant future.
