Matt and I are currently travelling through Australia and it is absolutely beautiful here (look out for lots of exciting travel posts/videos coming soon). However, we’ve been so busy and haven’t had a good internet connection (we’re talking 20 minutes to upload one instagram picture!) that I haven’t had a chance to update you guys on how my night in a kennel fundraiser turned out.

To describe the experience, I thought it’d be best to share with you my instagram post from the day after the event, as it captures how I felt about the experience whilst the emotions were still raw:

▹▸▹▸ MY INSTAGRAM POST

“As Maria, Natalie & I left the kennels last night, there wasn’t a dry eye in sight. Leaving this little baby in her kennel after spending 24 hours together was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Although I volunteer every weekend and (nearly) always manage focus to on the positive, spending 24 hours in a kennel with a dog, getting to know what it’s like to be them, puts everything into a completely different perspective. You get to see how much every little interaction, every little treat through the kennel bars matters. You see how much an hour walk means to someone who spends the other 23 hours of their day alone in their kennel. One of the things that gets to me the most is that whilst my night in the kennel was one of my worst nights sleep; snuggled up in the bottom of my sleeping bag, it was probably one of Dolly’s best.

If you think you could spare a couple of hours each week, PLEASE go to your local rescue centre & volunteer to walk the dogs. It really does mean more than you could ever imagine & the bonds you form with the dogs will be something you’ll treasure for life. I’ve also made some of the loveliest human friends whilst volunteering as I’ve found that the people who work with/choose to spend their free time with rescue animals tend to be some of the most compassionate & caring people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.

Before I end this massive essay, I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has donated & helped us break our target of £1000 – you have made a huge difference to these dogs’ lives & I thank you for that from the bottom of my heart 🐶💗”

▹▸▹▸ VLOG OF THE FUNDRAISER

I filmed a short vlog of the fundraiser, so if you’d like to get a glimpse of what it’s like to spend 24 hours in a kennel, you can check that out below:

I am so pleased to announce that we raised a grand total of £1,400 for Foal Farms’ dogs, which is absolutely incredible! I was completely overwhelmed and humbled by all of the support we received throughout the process; it is so heart-warming to see how many kind, caring and generous people are out there. Not only did we receive so many donations that we were able to break our target, we were also featured in the local Newspaper as ‘Dog Crazy pals’ (life complete haha!) which all jokes aside will help raise awareness of the plight of rescue dogs and hopefully encourage people to consider rescuing their next best friend. For me, one of the greatest things to come out of this experience (that may or may not have made me cry a little) was hearing from friends and strangers that our fundraiser had inspired them to put in an application to volunteer at their local rescue centre.

I am beyond ecstatic with the impact our fundraiser has had and am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have had this experience. I want to say a final huge THANK YOU to everyone who supported us, whether it be through sharing our posts, donating, or even making a change in your own life to help rescue shelters near you. Sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

If you’d like to check out our feature in the local Newspaper, you can find that here:

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/13789074.Dog_crazy_pals_spend_24_hours_in_kennels_for_rescue_centre_fundraiser/