Volunteering
At Thistle Boxer Rescue, our volunteers are the backbone of the charity; without them we simply wouldn’t be able to do the work that we do!! We are all volunteers and manage every aspect of Thistle Boxer Rescue’s day to day work from answering phones and dealing with enquiries to fostering dogs and carrying out home checks to arranging fundraising events. Our volunteers are spread across the whole of Scotland and some even further afield!!
Our volunteers find being part of Thistle Boxer Rescue a rewarding experience with most people finding really good friends through the charity. After all, who better to share all our boxer stories with than other boxer lovers?! You can’t imagine how good it feels when a boxer you have been involved with finds their forever home with a loving family. Knowing that you have been part of that is just so special!! That said, at times it really is hard being part of a dog rescue, sometimes heart breaking. Every time we come across a case of neglect or someone’s indifference to a boxer they no longer want, it really affects all our volunteers, even those that never meet the dog. Thankfully, in the vast majority of cases we are able to find them happy ‘forever homes’ with the help of our wonderful volunteers.
What could i do as a volunteer?
Here are some of the things our volunteers do for Thistle Boxer Rescue:
- Home checks – Our volunteers carry out home checks for all potential adopters. These are friendly visits to talk about the adoption process and see the surroundings in which the dog would be living.
- Rehoming – The best bit of being involved in the charity! This is when our volunteers meet the family wanting to adopt along with the dog looking for a home. They all go for a walk to see how everyone takes to each other and, if all goes well, they will be waving good bye to another four-legged friend going off to their forever home!
- Vet checks – Our volunteers take the boxers in our care to the vet for a health check and to see if they need any treatment.
- Collecting dogs – This is where our volunteers meet with the people who can no longer care for their boxer to take them into our care. This can be a difficult time for everyone involved and the owners are often heartbroken at what they have to do. Our volunteers try to make this as painless as possible and are very understanding.
- Transporting dogs – Often dogs are collected from a different part of the country to where they will be fostered which again might be some distance from where they are eventually rehomed. We often have to transport dogs across the country and rely on our network of volunteers to do this for us.
- Fundraising events – We are always looking for ways to be creative with how we fundraise. Anything from a bake sale at school, a sponsored bike ride/ sponsored walk with your friends (both human and furry), through to donating instead of giving a physical present on behalf of someone you love. No donation is too small or too big, so if you think there is something you can offer please do get in touch. This is a major part of the work Thistle Boxer Rescue does and is a vital source of funds!! Without these fundraising events and the wonderful volunteers who organise them and help out on the day we simply wouldn’t have the funds to keep rescuing any dogs.
- Buy our merchandise. Check out our latest offerings by searching for us in eBay
These are just some of the many tasks that our volunteers do; if you have a particular skill or interest, let us know – we’ll be able to find a way you can help us!!
Nobody at Thistle Boxer Rescue is paid for what they do and everyone puts in their time and love purely for their love of boxers. We all do it so we can see that happy ending, knowing we have made a boxer’s life better.
Fostering
At Thistle Boxer Rescue we do everything we can to make things as easy as possible for the boxers in our care and try to accommodate them with foster families if at all possible. This gives us time to arrange a long-term home and also the opportunity to carry out an assessment of the dog within a home environment. The length of fostering can range from a few days or until the dog gets a new home.
We are always happy to receive new applications for foster homes. It is not essential that you are currently a dog owner and we welcome applications from dog-free homes as some of our boxers aren’t good with other dogs. What we do look for is that you can provide a safe home and have the time and commitment to help a boxer in need.
Fostering has many rewards and can make a big difference to a boxer’s chance of a successful loving forever home. If you would like to discuss applying to foster a boxer, please give us a call or complete the online application form.
Please fill in as much information as possible as this helps us to match dogs with the most appropriate foster families for them.
You could become a Thistle Boxer Rescue supporter. For £5 per year you will get access to our supporters’ Facebook group. You will also receive an annual newsletter, get an invite to our Annual General Meeting and will be among the first to hear about our upcoming events. If you set up a regular donation you will automatically beome a ‘supporter’.
Other ways to help ......
You could consider doing a sponsored event and donating the money to Thistle Boxer Rescue. This could be a sponsored run, abseil, cake sale, fancy dress day or anything else you can think of!! Please could set up a Just Giving page and link to us as your chosen charity to allow your supporters to donate online. Please get in touch if you need any help setting things up!!
Whilst selling an item through eBay you could choose to donate to Thistle Boxer Rescue. You can choose between 10% and 100% of the sale cost and will receive a refund on your eBay fees.
If you buy things from Amazon, please consider buying through Amazon Smile and choose us as your charity. You won’t notice any difference but we will receive 0.5% of any money you spend.
We are always looking for items for tombolas or to sell at events (e.g. unwanted gift sets, cuddly toys etc.). If you have anything suitable please get in touch. If necessary, we can arrange collection. Some dogs that come to us don’t have anything so if you have spare dog leads, collars, toys or bedding we would love to recycle them for our fostered dogs to use.
Send eCards and donate the cost of cards and stamps to Thistle Boxer Rescue!
