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Welcome to

Paws & Hooves

It has been an exciting year at the RVC Animal Care Trust (ACT). We have been inspired
by how your generosity continues to support us to advance animal health and care.
Twenty years after the first blood donation took place at the RVC, we launched an
ambitious fundraising appeal to build the RVC Blood Donor Programme a new home.

With over half the funds raised towards our £150k appeal for the new facilities, we’re
delighted to announce that building work has commenced! We are grateful to our
community for supporting this remarkable milestone in transfusion medicine at the RVC.
We still have a way to go and we need your help. We now need to fund new clinical
and research equipment for the Blood Donor Programme, every donation improves the
welfare of our dog and cat blood donors and helps more pets get the blood they need
when they so desperately need it. If you can support our work or would like to find
out more, please visit rvcact.com/BloodDonorAppeal.

Nyla’s inspiring story on page four shows the importance of our new blood donation
facilities. Nyla needed eight blood transfusions at the RVC to survive a life-threatening
autoimmune condition. With dedicated donation rooms for cats and dogs, and an
enhanced laboratory, we can support even more blood donor heroes, and help more
sick pets like Nyla.
We also welcomed Professor Christianne Glossop OBE as our Chair, picking up the
mantel from Professor Stephen May’s decade-long tenure whose years of dedication,
passion, and vision have been invaluable to us. As Christianne stepped into her new
role she witnessed the real-life impact of our work when she heard from students who
we’ve helped through scholarships and grants. As an RVC alumna and the first Chief
Veterinary Officer for Wales, Christianne has a unique perspective of the student,
clinical and teaching experiences. You can meet Christianne on page 15.

At Open Farm Sunday it was a joy to see our local community exploring and enjoying
RVC Boltons Park Farm. This year’s bake sale and tombola raised over £700 to support
our work – our best Open Farm Sunday fundraiser to date. Thank you to everyone who
participated, we hope to see you all again next year.

If you are thinking of ways to support us, why not play our Autumn raffle? With every
ticket bought, you help critically ill animals. Who knows, you could win our top prize of
£1,000! Your tickets to purchase are enclosed or buy them online at rvcact.com/raffle.
Professor Dan Chan runs the London Thank you to you, our amazing community for all that
Marathon for our Blood Donor Appeal you have helped us achieve so far this year.

Hannah Papapetrou
Fundraising Manager

Demonstrating how to deliver a calf at Open Farm
Sunday using the ACT-funded cow simulator

P&H AUTUMN 2024 3