Meet the Peterborough woman campaigning for a nationwide network of foodbank bins for rescue dogs

A campaign to establish a national network of food bank collection bins for rescue dogs has been launched by a woman from Peterborough.

Clare Thompson, from Hampton, says the plan to establish a nationwide network is a logical step following the success she experienced with the local collection bin at Serpentine Green.

“I had such a good response,” she told the Peterborough Telegraph: “I advertised it online, putting up daily adverts on Facebook and different things.”

The 63-year-old was actually taken aback by how swift and considerable the response was:

“I even had people coming to my house giving me donations of food, towels and bedding.”

Lifelong animal lover Claire explained that the initial inspiration for setting up the rescue dog foodbank bin came after she found out about the Noah’s Ark Dog Rescue charity and subsequently got to know Vanda Kizmaz, a member of the charity’s team.

“I said to her: ‘I’d love to be able to help’.”

“So I went to Tesco’s and I asked the manager if he would allow us to have a dog charity bin - a foodbank for the dogs for Noah’s Ark Dog Rescue - and he said ‘yes’.”

Claire’s aim now is to persuade a large national retailer to agree to the idea of having rescue dog collection bins at all of their stores.

“I really want this to be something that’s nationwide,” she said.

“It would be great to start an initiative with somebody to feed the dogs of the country.”

Though Claire has approached a number of the UK’s retail giants, she has yet to receive a positive response.

It’s fair to say Claire is well-known around her area for being a devoted dog-lover.

She is the proud owner of two rescue dogs: one is blind and deaf, and the other is a foster dog rescued from Romania.

At one point, the pooch-lover used to have seven dogs.

“The people down the street used to call me ‘the dog lady’,” she recalled, laughing.

Anyone who wishes to receive updates about Claire’s efforts, or is interested in lending a hand, can find out more by visiting her Facebook page.