Save St Francis Dogs Home

20/07/2022

Nowzad back up and running 👏 come on St Francis Dogs home the public need to see what you are doing

23/06/2022

For those of you who haven't seen this elsewhere, it's the Q & A summary from the Trustees following the open meeting on the 13th....

https://www.stfrancisnewquay.org.uk/latest-news/qa-from-community-engagement-event-on-13-june-2022/?fbclid=IwAR0sjw1KlTt9LN8m2LkdtGmX87m74aZTTaOAAfsNwHMlE2nOroN3NZ933dk

16/06/2022

So after the Trustees had an open afternoon at Sands on Monday, they issued this statement.....
"Thank you to each and every one of you that took the time out of your busy day/evening to attend our community engagement event yesterday. It was really important to sit down and meet our supporters face to face and listen to your views and feelings. It also gave us an opportunity to update you on our thinking as well as to answer any questions you had about the Charity.
We have taken on board all of the feedback and it is clear that Trustees and everyone who attended the event share the same objective: to maximise the care and support St Francis can provide for dogs with the resources that have been kindly donated over many decades.
We even had a guest appearance from former St Francis Rescue Dog, Baxter who put a smile on all our faces 😊.
Thank you to The Sands Resort Hotel, Newquay for having us.
For those of you that were unable to attend, we are currently collating an online FAQ’s document which will contain responses to questions raised previously and at the event. We hope that this provides clarity and transparency about how the Charity will ensure the care and safety of dogs moving forward."

It seems highly unlikely that the original plans they had will go forward, mainly because the costs have risen so much since the plans were drawn up. The initial idea is to have some sort of fostering operation going on from the site & this seems to be quite far down the line.
I don't think they have many ideas as to what can be done for the actual site to reopen as a rescue centre. It does have some issues, mainly with the drainage. Don't really know what to say. I think the afternoon at Sands was to try to get as many ideas as possible & also to gauge what public feeling was towards the situation, past & present.

20/05/2022

It is noted the chair of the board of trustees is no longer listed on the St Francis Dogs Home website or the Charity Commission website . Has there been an announcement of any change? Local supporters please attend the below event to share your views and request transparency .

10/03/2022

Just drove past St F so had a look over the gate. Absolutely nothing seems to have happened. Planning permission was granted for Beaver Lodge on 22/6/21 & for the home on 22/12/21. Hopefully BL's being rented out to provide some income & lord knows, there's enough people around who need somewhere to rent!
They appointed a new trustee in 2021 to "drive the Charity’s communications strategy to strengthen understanding of the Charity’s cause, deepen awareness of St Francis’ brand and increase our charitable impact." but there seems to be very little being said. 3 other new trustees appointed for various other roles too. Info on their website.
https://www.stfrancisnewquay.org.uk/about-us/meet-the-trustees/
On 1/9/21 they said on FB "We are very pleased to announce that we have invited Helen McCartan to join the Board and she has accepted. Helen brings new skills to the Board of Trustees with her impressive background as a fundraising professional." 6 months on & I've seen/heard no sign of fundraising. However, they could be looking to bigger institutions for it, not the general public. The money for the work has to come from somewhere! Who knows?
They've also published their last set of accounts...
https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/5134191/accounts-and-annual-returns
You can also get information as to when trustees have been appointed there. If there are any accountants/financial gurus out there who could have a look at the accounts & comment, that would be great.
In the Chair's Report it states...
"Trustees have kept in touch with supporters along the way and have received much support for the transformation project. Updates have been posted on social media and our website......"
The last time the Trustees kept in touch with their supporters was on 16/11/21 to say the Planning Application had been validated. It's March 2022 now! They haven't even said anything about permission being granted in December (with conditions) or the fact their accounts are published. So that's what the countless memes were for!!
So, still no idea when work's going to start, over two years after the closure. A lot of people have donated/bequeathed money, time & love in to St F & a lot of dogs could have been helped but we're all still pretty much in the dark as to when anything's going to happen. It's not good.

11/11/2021

Here's the planning application for the new dogs home....
https://planning.cornwall.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=QZDN9RFGH6400

21/09/2021

Got to give credit where it's due regarding the latest announcement. It does sound like there's going to be basically a new St Francis rather than modernising the existing home, given that they've been using professionals for all the work so far. Can't see the planning application yet, so can't tell really.

01/09/2021

20 months on:
Great news (not really)!
The Board has invited "Helen McCartan to join the Board and she has accepted. Helen brings new skills to the Board of Trustees with her impressive background as a fundraising professional." It's not clear whether she is an employee or not as they were offering the position as a paid role recently. A person can be a trustee & also an employee. I wish her luck after the total PR disaster this has been.
They also say...
"It's a big project and we're currently at the final stage of working with Cornwall Council on our final plans. We will be posting a new update very soon which will include details of an open event taking place in October for supporters to come and see our plans and meet Trustees along with some of the people we have been working with, including our Architect Jonathan Clark"

On the 16th June they said...
"we have been working with Cornwall Council since last October when our pre application went in. Our full planning documentation is being finalised and we will give an update very soon. Thank you for your support. "

9th of Jan they had this "exciting update!"...
"A pre application has already been lodged with Cornwall County Council. The Council confirms that the volume of general planning enquiries has significantly increased which has resulted in delays with validating applications and this was the case with our application.
We are pleased that this has now been done and a Planning Officer has recently visited the site. There are now ongoing discussions between our Architect and Cornwall Council.
We will keep you updated. 😊"

03/08/2021

Interesting …. Closed since March 2020 no new build as yet …no open day date to share plans with the public as promised. Can the charity afford this salary ??

09/06/2021

Hi folks, just to let you know we haven’t gone quiet!
So here we are approximately 18 months on & still nothing’s happened. Apart from the occasional statement about great plans, there isn’t even any planning permission lodged for St F. They haven’t used their page to ask locals/followers to tender for any of the works they’re planning to do either. This seems a bit strange as there are probably plenty of people who love St F, who’d love the opportunity to do the job at a good price.
However, the trustees have put in an application to put a driveway in to Beaver Lodge, the cottage next to St F. This has been traditionally a home for whoever was managing St F. It allowed them to keep an eye on the dogs overnight, amongst other things.
https://planning.cornwall.gov.uk/.../applicationDetails...
As the manager used to park in ST F’s car park & walk to the Lodge, we can’t see why it needs a driveway....unless they’re planning to sell it? Prioritising work to the Lodge over the kennels?
Next, they’ve put this up on a FB group....
https://www.facebook.com/342797566842/posts/10158698810341843/?d=n
Why is this not on the St F page? Again, I'd imagine there are plenty of locals or fans of St F who'd love to volunteer??
It’s looking for 3 Trustees who have...
‘’skills and experience and would like to play a part in helping the dogs and community in Cornwall in the future:
- Building work, especially the oversight of major projects,
- Communications & PR, or
- Charity Fundraising.’’
Why now, 17 months after closure, especially as they’ve been making all these plans? On top of that they say...’’ For an information pack or informal chat to find out more, please contact [email protected]’’. Why do they need to use a, presumably paid, consultancy?
Finally, here are the accounts for 2019/2020....a loss of approximately £360k. It says there was a loss of approximately £210k on the investment portfolio due to Covid but that most of it has since been recovered. Bearing in mind that the crisis only really kicked in in Dec 2019/Jan 2020, that’s some going? Perhaps an accountant out there could have a closer look & offer their opinion? We could be completely wrong of course. Also, the Board only appointed a Financial Officer in October 2020. There’d been nobody in that position for some considerable time before that. Very odd under the circumstances. If you click on the link below & put in the number, 205823, Click on St Francis Home For Animals & then 'Accounts & Annual returns' you'll be able to see the recent accounts.
https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/...
Questions, question & still no answers.

You can view the charities that have notified the Charity Commission they merged or transferred their assets to another charity on the Register of merged charities

13/01/2021

This week it will be one year since the announcement on Facebook that St Francis dogs home was to temporarily close . The site remains untouched but the Trustees have shared a computer image of a planned new building . This is in the very early stages it seems and was shared in response to letters sent to the Newquay Voice .

07/10/2020

In some of their recent responses to comments on their posts, the St Francis trustees promise news of "exciting plans soon" . In the meantime their page has become a home for memes not a home for rescue dogs.

As and when those plans are released (and while we all want the best for the future of the Charity), let's not forget this image of the site taken this week... some 6 months after closure: No development. No building. No change. No dogs. No reason 5 good people were made redundant so soon and so many dogs in that time lost their chance of a new start.

04/07/2020

One of our supporters posted these concerns as a comment on a recent update post from the St Francis trustees (Post on their FB page). The comment was immediately deleted. So we have agreed to post the comment here in case anybody else shares similar concerns. Despite St Francis censoring their page and choosing to ignore/delete the concerns of the community, only allowing positive feedback to appear there, we are still doing what we can to hold them to account. Stay safe lovelies. 🐶😘

02/07/2020

Let's be honest. We haven't all been able to get out as much as we like over lockdown. When Frank sent me some photos saying hey, I've put on a few pounds, but I think I'm still beach body ready, can you make these pictures look like I've been to the beach? I thought I would give it a whirl. I'm new to photo editing, but I think I've done a fairly good job. 😂😂

Frank there is nothing to be ashamed of if you have stayed at home or gained a little weight. You are still looking great.

Feel free to comment with your doggies enjoying their best lockdown life.

26/06/2020

A Belated virtual hug to everyone that cares about the future of St Francis. Anybody want to see what Frank is up to as we move out of lockdown?

18/03/2020

Dog of The Day Minnie hopes you are keeping safe and wants to share a link to this amazing thing happening in our community. Look After Each Other. No Hugs today. Just love at a safe distance and people to help each other as best they can. Newquay Self Isolation Support.....

https://www.facebook.com/groups/nqyselfisolationsupport/permalink/520932885290219/

11/03/2020

Coronavirus is in the news
And looks like Frank has blown a fuse.
He's panic shopped paper for the bog
And washing his paws like a well trained dog

While coronavirus has given us all a fright.
Frank says please lets not lose sight...
Spare a thought and don't wash your hands
Of our empty dogs home and the invisible plans.

02/03/2020

This page was set up by members of the community who truly believe that any closure, even a temporary one, of St Francis Dog's Home was not in the best interests of the charity or the dogs in need of their support. It is only fair to say that we are hugely disappointed that the centre has now stopped operating. While this is not what we hoped for, we still believe that the trustees need to be held accountable for their actions to date and for any future decisions they make with the money donated to the charity by the community.

As this weekend, the trustees made their stance very clear, that they will not allow criticism or any open honest debate about those decisions on their page, our page will still strive to do that. They have gone to great lengths to remove even polite comments from their posts and block people who dared to seek answers to reasonable questions.

We still think the public has a right to know why the home closed before improvements were due to start? How they can describe the centre as hemorrhaging money when they made the decision to disband their fundraising committee? And why there was no public consultation or call for support before this closure was decided upon?

We are sure you have questions of your own and as always we thank all our supporters for their continued love and concern.

28/02/2020

Dear little Mylo the last remaining dog ... not on the website since yesterday ... good luck sweet boy 💕🐾💕

26/02/2020

Let’s hope so

Charity Commission warns charities they must take public expectations seriously 25 February 2020 by Andy Ricketts Charities should “lead the way in taking public expectations seriously” if they are to continue to attract public support, the Charity Commission has said.A report about the complain...

22/02/2020

Today's Dog of The Day is the beautiful Coda. Rescued from St Francis Dogs Home 8 years ago. What a gorgeous smile she has. Let's keep more doggies smiling. Please sign and share our petition far and wide...

With huge thanks to all our supporters out there... 🐶😍🐶
https://www.change.org/SaveStFrancisdogshome

21/02/2020

Frank hasn't let being front page news this week go to his head, in fact he has even been down to Chester Road Launderette helping with some chores. What a good boy. Just one problem Frank... Those aren't our smalls. 😮

20/02/2020

Please share . The money spent is public money from kind and heartfelt donations .

https://www.change.org/SaveStFrancisdogshome

19/02/2020

Frank made the front page of the Newquay Voice. Go Frank!! Hope the article helps you understand what we're fighting for...

19/02/2020

Update
Front page of Newquay Voice

18/02/2020

Anyone else feel like today's Dogs of the day, Charlie and Bruno, waiting for the trustees to engage with the concerns of their supporters and the community?

16/02/2020

This is an example of the fantastic support St Francis dogs home receives , yet the Trustees still refuse to meet the public or even answer questions

Thank you to Tracey from Dog walking & exercise field, Newquay Cornwall for inviting us up for a free session with one of our residents this week. 😁
It's always a joy to take one of our dogs out offsite for a mooch, new sights, new smells, the added security of the secure field was amazing!

Unfortunately no pictures, as it turns out mud and Mobile phones don't mix very well 😂

We would also like to thank everyone that has dropped off donations at the exercise fields.

Once again, Thank you to all of our supporters ❤🐶❤

15/02/2020

Please support Zeus and sign and share our petition

15/02/2020

Dog of The Day - the gorgeous boy AJ. He is fondly described by his forever humans as "a bit of a twit", but loved so much and might not be here without the help of St Francis Dogs Home.

We love the twits, the oddballs and the ones that need a little extra love and understanding. That's what makes St Francis Dogs Home so special...

15/02/2020

Please support Zeus by signing and sharing our petition https://www.change.org/SaveStFrancisdogshome