More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
An animal lover was left baffled after animal charities failed to take her up on an offer to donate half her house to them.
Suzanne Corrigan, 53, contacted the RSPCA and World Wide Fund for Nature earlier this year to offer them 25% of her house each, but says neither charity got back in touch with her.
“I contacted the RSPCA in the first week of January and the WWF in February, but didn’t have any contact,” said Suzanne, of The Brent, Dartford.
“If I go first the house goes to Brian, my partner, but afterwards I want it to go to the charities.
“My house is worth £350,000 but by the time I croak it’s probably going to be £500,000, so they’re looking at £125,000 each. I don’t think it’s to be sniffed at.
“I’m a member of the charities and I pay monthly to each - if that was me I would be like a rat up a drain pipe.
“I’ve given to them most of my adult life - I feel very strongly about Planet Earth being protected and the animals.”
Retired from the NHS, Suzanne is a volunteer with disabled charity Scope, and says volunteering brought home how important it was for charities to communicate with supporters.
“That’s what brought this up with me,” she added.
“Scope are doing a free will offer, and it just reminded me that I had contacted both charities. They need a reminder and they need a kick up the bum.
“They’re such big charities.”
Among other charity support work, Suzanne has also adopted a vulture through a South African charity after watching BBC programme Vultures: Beauty in the Beast, which stressed the importance of vultures for the Maasai Mara reserve.
“They sorted that in one day and they’re in South Africa,” she added. “I’ve adopted Fionnbharr - it’s an old Irish name and means fair headed - they sent me a picture and an adoption certificate.
“I also give to Kent Wildlife Trust, The RSPCA, WWF, and Cats Protection.
"I only donate a small amount - I think if a lot of people did that it would make a big difference.”
A spokesperson for WWF said: “We are incredibly grateful to supporters who leave a legacy gift to WWF.
"All legacy supporters have access to a dedicated Supporter Manager to ensure that any queries are answered promptly and fully.
"On this occasion, an administrative error caused a delay in the supporter receiving follow up information, which unfortunately we were not informed about.
"We have now been in touch with our supporter to resolve the matter and apologise for any delay.”
A spokesperson for the RSPCA added: “We are so sorry that Ms Corrigan did not hear back from us, we have since spoken to her and apologised. We would not exist if it was not for wonderful supporters like her.”
Escaped animals, unusual finds and news from the RSPCA can all be found here.
