our History

Did you know that BSCF has been around for NEARLY 50 years?

It began when former nurse Mrs Lewis started taking in cats which had been injured in traffic accidents outside her house or strays without known homes. It soon became obvious that there was a serious stray cat problem in the area and Mrs Lewis, with the aid of friends and support from local press, radio and volunteers (some who are still with us) raised sufficient money to start and organise the beginnings of the sanctuary.

Within 3 years we applied for charitable status which was granted in February 1980 with a constitution and defined aims. This included the very essential policy of neutering, for the purpose of trying to reduce the number of strays and ferals in the area.

We moved to Friar’s Orchard in 2000 and since then we have gone from strength to strength. Our current site at Friars Orchard would not exist without the very generous legacies we received from Joan Bigmore and others – their money enabled us to buy our new home and we are proud of our sanctuary and the work we do here. Unfortunately, we don’t have any pictures of our site at Friars Orchard from when we first moved here.

Over the years we have gained a reputation for providing kindness, love and care where no animal was put to sleep, unless on veterinary advice. We work as hard as we possibly can, to provide the best care that we can, and we will continue to do so for as long as we can.

The work has been hard, but the reward is great, and we have immense pride in seeing the cats in our care thrive and the happiness in others when they collect their cat or kitten.