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About 7th Heaven's Pet Foodbank

One of 7th Heaven's main aims is to encourage people to keep their pets, rather than hand them in to a pound or sanctuary. We strongly believe that it is in the animal's best interest for them to remain in the home that is familiar to them as long as possible, rather than being subjected to the stress of a kennel environment. With this in mind, 7th Heaven established a Pet Food Bank in May 2014.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Under our Pet Food Bank initiative, we will endeavour to provide a supply of free pet food, for a limited period, to people in financial hardship across Northern Ireland. To help target those in need we are working in conjunction with Community Advice, British Legion, local councils, Storehouse Belfast, amongst others.

 

Update 9/3/22 - We will provide pet food to those in urgent need. We will prioritise those most in need. We will be restricting food to first time requests, with additional requests by exception & on a case-by-case basis. This will be dependent on the limited supplies we have and limited resources to do deliveries. We will aim to arrange deliveries in the same direction. We cannot guarantee any specific type of pet food as we are sharing out what has been donated to us. The pet food is donated by the public, so we have a responsibility to ensure that the pet food is shared with people in need in an emergency. If we provide pet food to the person, it must not be given away to anyone else or sold. 7th Heaven will not help anyone further who is found to have done this.

 

If you have been referred to a food bank, ask them to pass your details on to us. Or you can contact us direct if you need our support. 

We can either be contacted by e-mail: animalrescuetrust@hotmail.com or by phone: 02894432229. Our preference for initial contact is by e-mail please as we can manage this better. 

Please let us know:

- Name, address & phone number (e-mail too if possible)

- the basic reason why support is needed, to help us assess the type /length of support needed, ensure it meets our criteria and to ensure volunteers are aware of any health condition to safeguard them too.

- a few details of the animal(s)

We will contact you generally in the evening to discuss & make any arrangements.

*Some additional information:

  • We won't leave pet food unattended or with anyone other than the person

  • If the person is not in when we deliver, they will not receive any further deliveries (if it is due to an emergency and they have informed us themselves, we may make an exception)

  • The pet food bank scheme is only there to provide temporary support during times of financial distress to enable the person to keep their pet, rather than having to rehome him/her. It is not to replace the owner providing pet food to their pet. If help is required ongoing, for a long time, then we may offer support to help rehome the animal, as we must think of his/her wellbeing. 

  • We also do not provide help to someone if they have got a new pet when they know they are struggling, as we need to encourage animal responsibility. 

 

So if there are times when you can barely feed your animal, we may be able to supply you with free pet food for a limited time*. 

We have set up a Pet Food Bank Donation Point, Sainsbury's Forestside store, where customers are donating pet food to help those in need.

COVID-19 UPDATE 28/6/20 

We have now received confirmation the Animal Health & Welfare Policy Dept that we can restart our Charity's rescuing and rehoming activities provided other Government guidelines are considered. 

 

We continue to deliver pet food through our Pet Food Bank & Project Wildcat schemes to people in need and the requests have kept us extremely busy so please bare with us, as well as restarting all our charity activities including rehoming.

Pet Food Bank: This scheme provides free pet food to domestic pet owners in financial distress enabling them to keep their pet during rough times and not give them up when they needed them most. We will endeavour to provide a supply of free pet food, for a limited period, to people in financial hardship and in Covid-19 difficulty.  

NB. The supplies may be reduced at this time due to the increase in requests and will be dependent on funds available to cover. There are only a few volunteers delivering these supplies, so please bare with us! It is also not available to people who have got animals when already in financial difficulty or breeding, only to help them keep their pets during crisis times.

Organisations working with the vulnerable and those in financial distress can contact us direct (with the person's permission) with a referral for pet food support.   The public can either contact us by e-mail: animalrescuetrust@hotmail.com or by phone: 02894432229. Our preference for initial contact is by e-mail please as we can manage this better.    Please let us know: - Name, address & phone number (e-mail too if possible) - the basic reason why support is needed, to help us assess the type /length of support needed, ensure it meets our criteria and to ensure volunteers are aware of any health condition to safeguard them too. - a few details of the animal(s)   We will contact you generally in the evening to discuss & make any arrangements.

In the meantime please keep safe and take this opportunity to spend precious life changing time with your animals and your loved ones.

Animals We Have Helped Through Our Pet Food Bank

21/4/24 Some of the dogs we have shared the pet food donated to us. We're so glad to be able to help them through our Pet Food Bank scheme. This help during times of temporary financial distress prevents animals being rehomed. How would you feel if you had to give up your animal because you really couldn't afford to feed them this week, but you know you will be back on your feed in a month's time???

21/4/24 more animals helped through our Pet Food Bank scheme

21/2/24 A good supply of pet food to help Mum keep up her strength

21/2/24 Look at all the treats this cat has to look forward to now!

21/2/24 Cat chilling out after a good dinner from our Pet Food Bank supplies

21/2/24 Cats resting after filling their bellies with the Pet Food Bank supplies we delivered today

21/2/24 A beautiful cat helped through our Pet Food Bank

14/3/23 Out & about earlier this afternoon with more Pet Food Bank deliveries. This last week, even allowing for being snowed in a few days, we still managed to provide a good supply of pet food to those in need. This wee puss's owner told us that it has helped take the pressure of them for a good while. Thank you to everyone who has been donating to help us continue to deliver supplies to those seeking help through our Pet Food Bank & Project Wildcat schemes.

12/3/23-We are receiving lots more requests for help from people in urgent need. Some are struggling with the cost of just trying to survive.Others like Marley's owner have double distress - the heartache of loosing their partner and the long delay in getting benefits in place to help them.Marley is the only thing keeping them going and the situation is dire. We're glad our Pet Food Bank is there to help in crisis such as this - keeping pets in their homes when their owners need the company most

11/8/22 He's really chuffed with his supply!

11/8/22 This wee old dog doesn't eat much but was grateful for small bite food

7/8/22 Sabba looks happy with his delivery

16/7/22 This wee dog can't wait to get tucked in

16/7/22 delivery to help this family's cat

18/11/21 Here's 2 of the beautiful dogs helped recently through our Pet Food Bank scheme. They were so excited to get the pet food you had donated and the owner was grateful this will help them through dire times.

17/8/21 Another dog and his owner helped through 7th Heaven's Pet Food Bank- keeping pets in homes during difficult times

9/5/21 - Pet Food Bank deliveries continue on as normal while we are getting some renovations.

27/3/21 It's been a difficult year as we work through all the requests for pet food support and delivered supplies to almost 2000 animals. We don't get the same opportunities to take pictures of the pets we help now to all the safe guards. But this was one dog that wanted their picture taken to thank everyone for all their pet food donations. Your help to us with this is continuing to keep pets safe in homes.

18/6/20 Another pet helped through our pet food bank. We've now supplied pet food to feed over 600 animals since the end of April, but it is likely to increase as more people lose their jobs and livelihoods and struggle to feed their pets. If you are aware of anyone in this situation please get them to get in touch with us and we will see what we can do to help.

31/5/20 - ​These wee pet hens received a good supply of pet through our Pet Food Bank scheme. Thank you to Doagh Equestrian for the donation of a large bag of crumble

28/5/20 - We continue to be kept busy with Pet Food Bank and Project Wildcat pet food deliveries . Here's some pets who received a good supply of pet food to keep them fed and with their owners during this difficult time

21/5/20 -Look at this wee sweetheart. We supplied the owner with a good supply of pet food through our Pet Food Bank scheme. She's called GG as the owner said she was a gift from God and has helped her through bad times.

19/5/20 - Lots more animals continue to be helped through our pet food bank. This time, some hens & chicks. NB we will only help if they are pets.

13/5/20 - ​More pets whose owners are in need received good supplies of pet food today through our Pet Food Bank scheme.

10/5/20 - Some more pets provided with a good supply of pet food and litter through our Pet Food Bank to help the owner get through these difficult times

9/5/20 - ​Lots more deliveries yesterday & more booked for today! Good supplies of pet food were delivered to owners of pets who are ill and having to self-isolate for 12 weeks & who are in financial distress at this time & in need of support. Unfortunately the people who provide their food don't provide pet food. Here's some of the pets who received help

5/5/20 - These 2 beautiful Schnauzers needed special food during their owners time of need. Only Pets at Home sell this unfortunately. Please be aware that Pets At Home cannot provide next day delivery or collection to Northern Ireland. Build in extra time to order for food

4/5/20 - More dogs and cats provided with a good supply of pet food to help their owners through difficult times. This time the Larder referred. Once again thank you to Mackle Pet Foods for providing the tin food.

4/5/20 - More pets helped through our Pet Food Bank

4/5/20 - ​A good supply of pet food delivered to pets whose owners are in need

29/4/20 - This wee dog owner had been referred to us from the Red Cross. He needs a special diet so we have gave some food to see if this agrees with him. So far, so good. It's good when all the charities work together to provide holistic support for both humans and animals.

28/4/20 - ​Meet Legs! This dog has tiny back legs but it does not hinder him and he is clearly loved by his owner. A good supply of pet food was delivered for him and his mate the cat as his owner was having to self isolate and in need.

26/4/20 - ​Some food for the owner of this wee dog and cat(some already put away). This wee dog guarded the food while the owner lifted it. What a team! Owner was advised to shield during crisis.

25/4/20 - ​A good supply of pet food was delivered last week for owners of dogs and cats in Portadown who have been self-isolating and have no money at the moment.

21/4/20 - ​This wee old dog had been through the wars in the past and had few teeth left, but clearly he was doted upon. The owner was referred to us and we were happy provide a good supply of pet food to help get through bad times.

16/4/20 - ​Normally we get requests to provide pet food for dogs and cats. Recently we received a request to provide help to someone with pet hens. The family had been badly it by the crisis. With no money at the moment their pet hens were supplying them with at least a good supply of eggs.

17/3/20 - ​Here's one of the wee cats we delivered pet food to yesterday. Thank you so much everyone who donated pet food to help those in distress and dire need.

17/3/20 - ​Here's a beautiful dog happy to receive pet food donations, helping his owner to get through very bad times. Once again thank you to everyone who has been so generous with donations of pet food at this difficult time.

2/3/20 - We normally received requests for help with dog and cat food. This request on 2 March was quite unique - to help someone with pet rats. They were lovely & we were happy to provide help.  'Here's a photo of our three girlies! Meg (right), Artemis (middle) and Athena (left). This is a rare photo of the three of them together lol!'

23/1/20 - Here's one of the 9 animals we have provided with urgent supplies of pet food this week through our Pet Food Bank scheme.

23/12/19 - ​What a very busy time! We have delivered good supplies of pet food, treats and toys to 82 dogs, cats and rabbits over the last 9 days. No one was missed out in both the pet food bank and project wildcat schemes and even a few extra received support in time for Christmas. Here's one of those who received pet food who clearly thinks he's a dog see the poster.

8/10/19 - ​Here's a happy dog who has just received a good supply of pet food from our pet food bank scheme. Unfortunately his owner was one of those who have been made redundant recently and we are helping until things get sorted.

29/9/19 - Ah look at these wee kittens and their mum all cuddled up inside warm and safe. A man has taken them in and will care for them. We will be providing pet food to help and paying for them to be neutered.

​24/9/19 - We've been out tonight with deliveries. One special delivery was to provide pet food supplies to homeless with pets though Hope Harbour, Belfast.They are looking for volunteers to help.

21/9/19 - This wee dog couldn't wait to get tucked in to the food we delivered

13/9/19 - Here's one of the wee dogs who has received support from our pet food bank scheme, benefiting from the pet food you have donated. Thank you!

11/8/19 - ​Here's 1 of the dogs who received help this week. Thank you to everyone who donated pet food to help

4/8/19 - Here's 1 of the dogs who received urgent support this week. Vega is such a star! He couldn't wait to see all the rest of the food we were delivering to him. Thank you everyone for all your generous support

7/7/19 - Some more pets supplied with a good amount of pet food today through our Pet Food Bank scheme.

7/7/19 - Some more pets supplied with a good amount of pet food today through our Pet Food Bank scheme.

13/5/19 - ​Look at these 2 beautiful dogs. One had been taking seizures and found out it was related to the food it had been eating. They have been struggling financially and clearly emotionally from Christmas. We were able to provide a good supply of gluten free pet food and even some treats through our Pet Food Bank.

12/5/19 - Have ever thought how you would manage if you had to leave your home? How would you cope with this if you had a few children? You have absolutely nothing. Now how would you look after your pet? You may be able to get help through our pet food bank

29/4/19 - Here's some of the wonderful dogs we provide pet food to through our Pet Food Bank. Thank you for all your generous donations which is helping keep pets in homes.

21/4/19 - Here's one of the wee dogs who received a good supply of pet food this week.

Thank You to everyone who has donated Pet Food

29/10/24 Thank you Sainsbury Forestside customers for this great donation of pet food to help the animals in our Pet Food Bank & Project Wildcat schemes. Thanks Rachel too for the donation of dog food

1/8/24 more donations from the customers at Sainsbury Forestside. Thank you. These are being shared out with pets receiving help through the Pet Food Bank

3/7/24 generous donations from Sainsbury Forestside's customers. Thank you

26/5/24 Thank you Sainsbury's Forestside customers

28/4/24 Look at all the pet food Sainsbury's customers donated to our Pet Food bank!

7/4/24 Thank you all you generous customers of Sainsbury Forestside for this amazing amount of pet food donated to help our Pet Food Bank and Project Wildcat animals

11/2/24 Thank you Sainsbury's customers & staff for these donations of pet food. They are being shared with animals in need through our schemes

21/1/24 Thank you customers at Sainsbury's Forestside for your pet food donation. We have shared this out with animals in need through our Pet Food Bank and Project Wildcat schemes

17/12/23 Thank you once again Sainsbury Forestside customers. This will be shared with animals in need

3/12/23 Thank you Sainsbury's Forestside customers for all these donations

12/11/23 Thank you Sainsbury's Forestside customers for all these goodies to help feed those in need

5/11/23 Thank you to Sainsbury's Forestside customers for this trolley full of pet food yesterday. We are already sharing it with people in need in our Pet food bank scheme.

22/10/23 Thank you to all Sainsbury's Forestside customers for all your donations to 7th Heaven's pet food bank in-store. All the cat food donated this month will be shared with people feeding feral cats throughout Northern Ireland as part of our Oct Feral Cat month. You are all making a difference, thank you

30/9/23 the customers in Sainsbury Forestside are so generous! This will be shared with animals being supported through our Pet Food Bank scheme

16/9/23 We're very luck to receive all this support from Sainsbury's Forestside's customers!

10/7/23 Thank you everyone at Sainsbury's Forestside! Your customers are amazing donating this

28/5/23 Thank you Sainsbury Forestside Customers. Your donations will be shared with animals in need.

14/5/23 Thank Sainsbury Forestside customers for all your donations

11/4/23 Thank you Fay, John, Louise, Andrea, Geraldine & Geraldine. Your generous donations of pet food, money & bedding will go to help those in the Pet Food Bank & Project Wildcat schemes

2/4/23 Thank you to Sainsbury's Forestside customers & staff for this trolley of pet food. This has been shared with pets whose owners are in urgent need through our Pet Food Bank scheme

19/2/23 Thank you Sainsburys

19/2/23 Thank you to Sainsburys Forestside customers and staff for another 2 trolleys of pet food donated at our Pet Food Donation point. All will be shared with pet owners in need

5/2/23 Thank you Sainsbury Forestside customers & staff for this food. It has been shared with animals in need through our Pet Food Bank & Project Wildcat schemes

15/1/23 Thank you Sainsbury Forestside customers & staff

6/11/22 A big thank you to Sainsbury, Forestside's customers and staff for all you donations and support. All this food was donated in our pet food bank box over the last few weeks. It has now been shared out with people caring for animals throughout Northern Ireland. All the cat food was shared out to people feeding ferals and community cats we support through our Project Wildcat scheme as part of our Oct Feral Cat month. Thank you everyone

21/9/22 Thank you Sainsbury's Foreside. Thank you to the customers who donated all this pet food

20/6/22 more donations from Sainsbury Forestside's customers

29/4/22 Thank you Sainsbury Forestside customers & staff for these great donations

25/2/22 - 3 more trolleys from Sainsbury Forestside. Thank you!

18/1/22 - 2 trolleys full of pet food from Sainsbury Forestside

15/11/21 Thank you Sainsbury's Forestside's customers

10/12/21 - Thank you Sainsbury Forestside's customers

19/11/21 - Thank you Forestside's Sainsbury's customers for all this pet food

23/10/21 A big thank you to Sainsbury’s customers and staff in their Forestside, Belfast. Their generosity through pet food donations at our Pet Food Donation is helping distressed owners of pets and carers of feral cats throughout Northern Ireland. They have donated £2377.63 worth of pet food from April and we have shared this out with those we help in the Pet Food Bank & Project Wildcat schemes. The cat food donated in October shared to help ferals during 7th Heaven’s Feral Cat Month.

27/8/21 Thank you for all this food Sainsbury Forestside's customers!

2/7/21 A great amount of pet food donated by Sainsbury Forestside's customers

22/5/21 Thank you Sainsbury's Forestside

7/4/21 What an amazing amount of pet food donated by customers at our donation point in Sainsbury's Forestside at Easter. We share these with people we supoport in our Pet Food Bank & Project Wildcat schemes. The requests for help have dramatically increased as people striggle to pay bills, keep afloat & keep their pets during crisis. We try to give them temporary support by providing pet food while they work through it all. And without this regular support, all this would not be possible.Thanks

29/1/21 More pet food from Sainsbury's Forestside store last week. That's over £230 worth of pet food donated in January which was quickly shared out to help animals in urgent need through our Pet Food Bank and Projeject Wildcat schemes. Thank you to everyone who donated. This is really amazing considering the crisis everyone is in, so a very big thank you to you all! We have now given out supplies to feed 1778 animals since late April.

8/9/20 - Thank you so much Sainsbury's customers and staff at Forestside for all this food last week. £223.94 worth of pet food was donated over a 2 week period. It's all being shared out with those in need in our Pet Food Bank and Project Wildcat Scheme

11/7//20 Lots more food from Sainsbury Forestside - Thank you!

23/6/20 Thank you to all Sainsbury's Forestside customers who continue to donate so generously. Look at the trolleys of pet food we have received over the last month. We can't thank you enough and we have made sure that all the pet food has been shared with those in need.

26/5/20 Look at all the pet food customers at Sainsbury's Forestside donated to us last week. This is so amazing and we were able to share the food worth £215 with people in need through our Pet Food Bank scheme and those kind people feeding wee feral and community cats throughout Northern Ireland. A special thank you to all Sainsbury's Forestside staff who made it all possible.

24/4/20 - It's been a real roller coaster since lockdown. Being able to deliver essential pet food supplies to those in need, brought new concerns for us about funding and supplies. We were surprised when staff at Sainsbury's Forestside contacted us to collect a trolley of donated pet food. We had not expected this as we had thought this would not have been something on people's minds at the moment. But we we were wrong. Lots of generous, compassionate customers had donated £172 worth of food

17/3/20 Thank you to everyone at Pets at Home Newtownabbey for sharing some of the pet food donations with us yesterday. We had spent the last few days trying to gather some pet food to supply those in need through our Pet Food Bank and Project Wildcat schemes. These supplies were quickly shared with those in need

17/3/20 We would like to send a very special thank you to everyone at Sainsbury’s Forestside who has donated pet food at our pet food bank donation point in-store over the last week. This is despite troubling times and food shortages. We are very grateful and have shared these with those most in need in our community.

1/3/20 2 more trolleys of pet food worth £209.40 collected from our pet food donation point at Sainsbury's Forestside today. Thank you everyone who generously donated all this. It is being shared with pets in need through our Pet Food Bank and Project Wildcat schemes.

10/11/19 Thank you so much Sainsbury's Forestside customers and staff for another trolley of pet food worth £122. This will be shared with animals needing help in our pet food bank and project wildcat schemes.

20/10/19 Another big thank you to everyone at Sainsbury’s Forestside this week for all the donations of pet food. We collected £77 worth of pet food which will be shared with animals in need. We will also be in-store next week and there will be a raffle to finish off our Feral Cat Month.

2/10/19 This is the first of the cat food donated at Sainsbury's Forestside last week to go to feral cats throughout Northern Ireland as part of 7th Heaven's Feral Cat Month.

18/9/19 Wow look at all the pet food donated over the last few weeks at Sainsbury's Forestside. £142.45 worth of food is now being shared out with several animals in our pet food bank and project wildcat schemes. Thank you to all the generous customers who donated this and the staff who are so supportive.

23/8/19 Thank you to everyone who donated pet food at our pet food. bank in Sainsbury's Forestside. We've just collected another trolley worth £82.49. This will all be shared with pets whose owners are in need and feral cats being cared for by wonderful members of the public not wanting to see them starve.

15/7/19 We are very grateful to Sainsbury's customers at their Forestside store for more pet food donations worth £197. More pets in need received a good supply of pet food this week.

11/7/19 A big thank you to everyone at Jollyes Glengormley for all the donations left at our pet food bank donation point. All sorts of food and treats worth £139 has now been shared with pets whose owners are in need. Thank you so much!

1/6/19 Wow look at all the pet food worth £194.45 donated at our Sainsbury's Forestside store! We can't thank their generous customers enough and this will all be shared with pets in need.

13/5/19 Thank you again to Tesco Ballygomartin for the gift vouchers they had given us. This £50 was used to buy special food and puppy food for dogs we are helping through our pet food bank.

23/4/19 What an amazing amount of pet food we collected from our pet food bank donation point in Sainsbury's Forestside. £242 worth of pet food has been shared through our Pet Food Bank to pets whose owners are in need. Thank you everyone for your generosity.

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