Cats Protection (formerly the Cats Protection League) was formed in 1927 and is currently the largest cat rescue organisation in the UK. It covers the entire country from the Scilly Isles to the Orkneys; its head office is at Chelwood Gate in Sussex.

CP's work is carried out through its 29 Adoption Centres (formerly "shelters") which are run partly by paid staff and partly by volunteers. And through its 260 Branches - which are run entirely by volunteers (eg unpaid). 95% of the rescue work done by CP is done by its 6000 volunteers.

CP is a registered charity, no. 203644 and is accountable to a Board of Trustees. Registered charities are subject to regulation by the Charity Comission.

The main aims of CP are:

* To rescue, rehabilitate and rehome cats and kittens.

* To advise and inform the public about cat care and welfare

* To encourage neutering of all cats/kittens not required for commercial breeding

Crawley, Reigate & District Branch was formed in 1978 - two of its founding members are still active within the branch. At July 2007, we have around 10 active volunteers and 142 members.

Though some of our volunteers are retired, many work full-time and juggle their volunteering with other commitments such as familes, home-making, hobbies etc.

It costs around 35,000 per year to do the rescue work we do. The branch receives a small annual grant from Head Office, based on the preceding years activity within the Branch - homing, fundraising etc- but the vast majority of our funding results from donations and our own fundraising efforts. Most of the money raised goes towards paying vet bills.

We use two local veterinary practices for all our rescue cats' veterinary needs.

We help over 600 cats and kittens each year, in addition to rehoming, we reunite lost cats with their owners, trap, neuter and return feral cats to their colonies (which are also monitored and fed), organise neutering and microchipping campaigns and advise people about optimum cat care.