Staff at the Port of Milford Haven have completed12 months of fundraising and volunteering for their local animal rescue centre after selecting them as their official Charitable Cause of the Year for 2015.

Greenacres Animal Rescue in Talbenny received the most votes from the Port’s 180-strong workforce at the end of last year. Not only did they receive a financial donation, they benefited from staff putting forward their own ideas for fundraising activities and events. These included a sponsored bungee jump, pancake sale and an auction for rugby tickets to name a few.

The extra activities generated over £1,500 for the rescue centre on top of the cash donation by the Port. Employees were also able to offer their expertise to help the volunteers by offering manual handling training and PR advice.

A landmark project for Greenacres was the construction of a large rabbit enclosure which is helping to educate young people about responsible pet ownership. The volunteers are able to show children that small hutches are not an appropriate long term home for the animals as this can lead to weight gain, health and behaviour problems.

Towards the end of the year, the team at Greenacres decided to use the rest of the Port’s donation to upgrade their electrical system in order to have reliable lighting, heating and hot water.

Mikey Lawlor, rescue centre manager, said: “Having the support of the Port of Milford Haven has been very beneficial to Greenacres for the last year, we have seen large and small projects completed and they have helped to raise funds that have changed animals lives for the better. The rabbit enclosure has been a huge success and the upgrade in electrics has been a massive help making day to day jobs much easier. We would like to thank the Port for their support both financially and in person and hope that we will get the opportunity to work closely with them again at some point in the future.”

Anna Malloy, PR and communications manager at the Port of Milford Haven, commented: “Supporting Greenacres Animal Rescue Centre over the last 12 months has been very rewarding. Our staff have visited the centre to volunteer, held fundraising events and donated a range of items to the charity shops and for the animals directly. The team at Greenacres are making a real difference in Pembrokeshire and we wish them every success for the future.”

Greenacres Animal Rescue Centre was founded in 2008 and relies entirely on supporter fundraising and public donations. For more information please visit www.greenacresrescue.org.uk

The Port’s 2016 Charitable Cause of the Year will be announced in the new year.