TRUSTEES' REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2024
8
Welcome to the 2024 RSPCA Trustees' report and accounts.
And what a year 2024 was! Our 200th anniversary year saw us striding
into our third century with energy and purpose as a modern
organisation that's more than ready for this new chapter. Once
again, it was a transformational year for us. As well as preparing to
refresh our 10-year strategy in 2025, we launched our bold, exciting
rebrand. This aims to get everyone, in all communities, thinking
about where animals' needs fit into their lives, what the RSPCA
stands for and how they can be part of our growing millions-strong
movement. We've harnessed the animal-loving public's support
and kindness for 200 years, and we know that's the way to make
progress for animals.
In an ever-changing world, we must always keep pace with the
challenges animals face and prepare for whatever may lie ahead.
This year, the economic environment put extra pressure on our
services, as well as making it harder to engage new supporters and
raise funds. But - thanks to the changes we made - we continued
to be there for animals suffering from cruelty and neglect, and
more people than ever showed their love for animals and our work
through their generous support.
Together, we're changing animals' lives in so many ways by stepping
up our work with partners and the public. For example - with
generous funding from the Pets Foundation Grant - our branches
in local communities gave struggling owners vital practical support,
to help them keep their pets in loving homes as the cost-of-living
crisis continued to bite. With our new online triage tool, we
empowered members of the public to help animals in need
themselves - more than 200,000 of them since we introduced it in
August - while our rescuers were out tackling cases of cruelty and
neglect. In another great example of partnership working, our
rescuers trained Network Rail staff to save countless animals from
harm around railway lines, including deer, swans and cattle. There
is kindness and care for animals everywhere we look, and we're
determined to keep on rallying people to do all we can, together.
We said some goodbyes in 2024. After six transformative years,
Chris Sherwood stepped down as Chief Executive to lead the
NSPCC. His visionary leadership modernised the RSPCA,
positioning us as a forward-thinking force for animal welfare.
Chris Packham stepped down as our President at the end of our
200th anniversary year. Chris is a passionate advocate for animals
and we are immensely grateful for his support over many years.
We have differing views on how best to address the incredibly
complex and difficult issue of farmed animal welfare, which
prompted him to step back from his role. We thank both Chris
Sherwood and Chris Packham for everything they have done for
the RSPCA and continue to do for animals.
Claire Horton, CBE, also stepped down as our Chair in early 2025.
Claire led with energy and purpose at a time of ambitious change,
setting us on course to deliver a bigger impact for animals by 2030
and beyond. She played a critical role in fostering a collaborative,
partnership approach between branches and the main RSPCA
and oversaw our frontline efforts to reach animals experiencing
cruelty and neglect more quickly. I'd like to thank her for all her
vision and dedication. I am honoured to be taking her work forward
as the new Chair.
The people who volunteer their time, money and voices to help us
in so many different ways continue to amaze me. We've highlighted
just some of their contributions in this report, but it's impossible to
list all the countless actions they take every year, from fostering to
fundraising, from campaigning to litter-picking, from transporting
animals to finding them new homes. Everything they do makes
such a difference, and we try to make sure they know just how
much they're valued. Events such as Volunteers Week and The
Big Help Out, which saw a 62 percent increase in volunteering
applications in 2024, really bring us all together. As part of a
new trial, a team of Area Volunteer Support Partners are building
and supporting dynamic local communities of animal-loving
volunteers, who are full of energy and ideas.
To build a better world in which animals and humans can thrive,
we need to understand and manage our own impact on our shared
environment. We have much to do in this area, but we took some
important steps in 2024, which you'll see highlighted throughout
this report. By this time next year, I should be able to tell you that
we're delivering our comprehensive and practical environmental
plan across the organisation.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has
supported us over the past year. It's thanks to our incredible
supporters and partners that we achieve so much for animals and
are in such good shape to achieve even more in our third century.
I'd also like to give my heartfelt thanks to all our dedicated teams,
staff, volunteers and branch workers, who make a real difference
to animals' lives every single day. Together, we are doing whatever
it takes to build a better world for every animal.
Amanda Bringans OBE
RSPCA Chair
Message from our Chair