A few years ago my friends started a small animal rescue, Tiny Paws MCR - both a rescue that is small and a rescue for small animals. It's grown since then and helped hundreds of animals survive illness and injury and find new homes. They're often animals who would otherwise have been overlooked such mice and rats. They have also taken in degus, an animal I spent 10 years rescuing from homes where they had often been bought as a cute accessory and abandoned when it was realised they actually live a lot longer than hamsters and have much more specialised needs.

Last year I was honoured to be asked to come on board Tiny Paws to act as a trustee, and at that point I came to realise just what a vital part of the operating fundraising is. The cash in their bank account literally means life or death for animals, and as many of us know anyway, vets' fees are often huge.

So, I'm giving up my favourite thing for the whole month of February and I would like you to sponsor me to do so. I can, in a particularly fun month, spend up to £250 in the pub (!), so I stand to save that by taking a month off. I'll donate that £250 I save to Tiny Paws, but ONLY IF you guys raise another £250 on my behalf too!

"Isobel", you might say, "awfully convenient of you to choose February, the shortest month of the year to do your month off the alcohol..." Well, it is actually a leap year. So it may be the shortest month of 2024 but it is also the LONGEST FEBRUARY of 2021-2027. So there.

So donate what you can please to help my friends secure bright futures for the little guys.

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