A Helping Paw pet food bank moves to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea and registers as a charity

A Helping Paw, whose founder Tyesha Muncaster is from Ashington, was set up last year and has been incredibly busy due to the cost of living crisis.

It is run by volunteers and relies on donations from individuals and organisations. The group used to work from home but demand is now so great, it has set up a new food collection hub in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.

Tyesha said: “It was just an insane amount of pets that we were helping and I thought: ‘how can we make this more efficient, grow it on a bigger scale, and make sure that we are helping as many people as possible?’

“The solution to that was to become a registered charity and take it from there.”

She came up with the idea to start A Helping Paw after offering up some spare kitten food pouches on Facebook that her two cats had grown out of.

Such was the interest in the free food, she set up a pet food bank and the service has grown quickly.

She said: “I think the cost of living crisis has made things a lot more difficult for people feeding their pets. Christmas in general can be a hard period for some.

This is the first week back [after Christmas] and we are already pretty rushed off our feet to be honest.”

Tyesha volunteers at the charity on top of her 35 hours per week job in digital marketing.

She said: “It is so rewarding. I look at my cats and I think I would literally do anything for them, and there are so many pet owners who are in the same situation but just physically cannot afford to feed their pets.

“I have had people worry that they are going to have to rehome their pets and all sorts, but our aim is to keep pets in their homes.

“That is where they belong at the end of the day.”

Becoming a registered charity is a step in the direction of becoming a nationwide organisation, which Tyesha says is one of her aims.

You can follow the work of A Helping Paw and find links to donate on its Facebook page.