An Aldi manager has taken it upon himself to support cats and their owners from his own home.

Billy Devitt, a 29-year-old from Walderslade, made the decision to offer support and advice for any cat in need during the first lockdown in March last year.

Originally from South London, Billy previously volunteered for a larger organisation.

He said: "When everything locked down in March the bigger charities had to stop some of their work, but help for cats was still needed.

"I decided to do my own thing, I created Wisteria Cat Rescue at my house to support pets and their owners."

Seven months later, in September, Billy was contacted by the Charity Commission and Wisteria Cat Rescue became a registered charity.

Billy said: "We're not a centre, we're just based at my home, we're a charity taking the strain away from larger organisations.

"Unfortunately since starting we have rescued a number of cats from poor circumstances. We've even had one cat thrown from a car.

"We are self sufficient and have no support, and if we do, it is from kind donations on our Facebook page.

"It cost's me and my volunteers around £3,500 to £4,000 a month to care for all the cats we have."

Currently Billy is supporting 16 cats, some of these are not only being cared for by him at his home but also at foster homes.

Billy not only works at his charity but is also a store manager in Gillingham, he said: " I work at Aldi three days a week and they're really supportive of my work at Wisteria Cat Rescue.

"The charity seems to be the only good thing to come from Covid-19.

"Thankfully many people haven't just adopted a cat for the sake of it during the lockdown's we've faced but we have definitely seen a rise in adoptions."

If people wish to adopt from Billy at Wisteria Cat Rescue, they must go through a contactless vetting process.

"Due to Covid-19 we obviously cannot go round peoples houses and make sure their homes are fit for the cats, so we have taken to Zoom meetings and FaceTime calls.

"At the moment we are getting 25 to 30 enquires a day."

To keep the adoption process Covid-19 contact free, Wisteria Cat Rescue give new owners their cat in a secure basket whilst dressed in full PPE.

Billy and his team have also been out in the community supporting vulnerable people who can't afford their pet expenses.

"We have helped owners in need with things like food, vet bills and micro chipping.

"If somebody calls us in desperate need we are always there to help, we wouldn't offer it if we couldn't afford it."

For more information about Wisteria Cats you can find their Facebook page here.

You can also find out more on their web page here.

To Contact Billy and is team, call 07581306741 or email info@wisteriacatrescue.org.

Wisteria Cat Rescue can also be found on Instagram and Twitter.

Escaped animals, unusual finds and news from the RSPCA can all be found here.

Read more: All the latest news from Medway