Lorna, Author at RSPCA Suffolk Central

Would you like to take on the ultimate muddy challenge to raise runs for local animals in need?

We are offering £10 charity entries if you’d like to take part in either the Whole Hog or Boss Hog event on behalf of RSPCA Suffolk Central – all we ask in return is that commit to fundraise at least £150 on our behalf ahead of the event.

Event details

Sunday 4 October 2026

Start times available at 9.30am, 10.30am, 11.30am or 12.30pm

Whole Hog course: 30 obstacles, 5 mile run
Boss Hog course: 40 obstacles, 7 mile run

The Whole Hog events are for teams and individuals over 16, and include running (or walking) around a course made up of a variety of challenging obstacles.

They are hard work but a lot of fun, and usually last around 1 ½ to 3 hours (3 hours if you walk!).

The Obstacles

You can expect to be crawling (under cargo nets), climbing (up steep banks and walls), wading through rivers (never swimming), tunnels, slides, jumps, swings and monkey bars… Expect to be tired, expect to be wet and muddy and expect to go the Whole Hog!

What’s included?

Chip timing
Event t-shirt
Exclusive medal
Car parking
Free photographs

Full details about the event can be found on the event website here.

REGISTER YOUR PLACE TODAY!

Don’t forget to create your fundraising page on JustGiving here.

Please email fundraising@rspca-suffolkcentral.org.uk if you have any questions.

We asked, you voted!

We’re thrilled to announce the results of our ‘Suffolk’s favourite dog breed of 2025’ poll:

As you know, we love ALL dogs, but Staffies hold a special place in our hearts and thoroughly deserve the top spot!

The top 6 breeds will be featuring on an exciting new range of stationery items hitting our shops very soon – so keep an eye out!

You can view all the dogs currently in our care and looking for a forever home here.

We know, Christmas is still a way off, but it’s still fun to plan a festive charity fundraiser!

How about holding a Christmas Jumper Day at your work, school, at a family gathering or with your local community/sports group?

Grab your worst (and by that we mean best) Christmassy jumper, collect donations to help animals in need, and feel that warm festive glow of doing something amazing, all while looking ‘cool’!

You can find out all you need to know on our campaign page at https://rspca-suffolkcentral.org.uk/christmas-jumper-day/

Sign up today!

For the last two years we’ve created a fabulous team of runners who have taken part in the Ipswich Half Marathon while raising funds to support our vital services in supporting animals in need.

If you might be interested in running the 2026 event, which is being held on Sunday 27 September 2026, with a FREE charity entry, in return for committing to raise £150 for us, please let us know by signing up below! We’ll then be in touch nearer the time to see if you’d like to join our 2026 team.

Sign up now to express your interest here.

Our annual Family Fun Day at our Martlesham Animal Centre held last week was a great success! Thank you to everyone that came along on the day – it was fanastically busy.

We hope you all enjoyed the entertainment from the Suffolk Soul Choir, local singer/songwriter Rory Hall and the Ukelele Band of Felixstowe – who were all magnificent and had the audience dancing.

The day wouldn’t have been possible without the support of all the volunteers who helped on the day, ran the BBQ and baked the lovely refreshments, as well as the local community who supported us with prizes, materials, amazing bug houses and wonderful stalls.

It all came together on the day, the weather (mainly) held and we raised a record-breaking £4,600 to support the work of our dedicated team at our Animal Centre.

Our wonderful supporter, Sue Southgate has run her annual Plant & Cake Sale in Holbrook on 10 May 2025 raising £510 to help animals in need across Suffolk.

The day saw amazing cakes for sale and wonderful plants including butternut squash and tomato plants galore!

A huge thanks goes to Sue and everyone that helped on the day, baked goodies or donated their plants for sale – it is much appreciated by us all.

After a long time in the making – starting as an idea over five years ago, followed by fundraising all of last year, and meticulous planning of each element over the last 12 months – we’re proud to be almost finished with our sensory garden project!

Having a space for our rescue dogs, the team and volunteers to explore, decompress and learn has been invaluable.

It’s no surprise that the behaviour of the dogs we see coming into our care is getting increasingly worse (with the average stay before rehoming rising from 68 days in 2022 to 129 days in 2023), with abuse and neglect towards animals still on the rise, accounting for many of these behaviours.

For this reason, we needed to create a space that served a purpose beyond just being an exercise area – a space that could help dogs from troubled backgrounds learn, develop, and progress through to rehoming in a safe and controlled environment.

The sensory garden is filled with new smells, textures, doorways, digging opportunities, training equipment and much more. Our team selected every aspect based on the lack of ‘real-world’ experiences that many of the dogs coming into our care often lack.

The grand opening of our sensory garden was to thank the volunteers, sponsors, supporters and wider team involved in making this project happen and we are overjoyed to have completed such a fantastic space for all to enjoy.

Our special thanks go to Dee & Terry Cosford, Offset Fillms, Vets4Pets Ipswich, Fitology Studio, Yoga Felixstowe, Kamala Yoga for supporting our fundraising efforts; H.R. Knights, Tars Ltd, Eco Chippings, Lumberjacks, Marmax Products, Collier & Catchpole and Katie’s Garden for donating materials and expertise; and AXA, Mercedes-Benz Ipswich, Milestone Infrastructure, Callagher, Smartest Energy and No Fuss Fill for volunteering their time in helping to prepare and construct the garden.

A team of 20 brave and daring supporters took on our skydive challenge this April, jumping from 13,000 feet to raise funds for animals in need.

Not only did six members of our branch team take part, but we also received support from the veterinary nurses at the Woodbridge and Ipswich branches of Ryder-Davies Vets, as well as Wendy Bones at Woodward Markwell Financial Advisers, who selected us as their charity of the year for 2025.

We were lucky to have a lovely sunny day at Beccles Airfield and everyone had an amazing time and landed safely. The whole team managed to raise an incredible £7,400 (with the total sill rising!) that will help us continue to deliver our vital animal welfare services across Suffolk.

If you fancy taking part in any of our upcoming fundraising events or challenges, visit rspca-suffolkcentral.org.uk/news-event

Our recent litter pick at Walk Farm Woods in Martlesham was organised as part of the Great British Spring Clean.

We hoped that through the efforts of all the volunteers involved that we could make a difference to the wildlife that live in the lovely woodland surrounding our Martlesham Animal Centre and we certainly did!

Over 30 volunteers gave their time to collect over 50 bags of rubbish on the day – as well as highlighting other fly-tipping in the woodland that was reported to the local council – what an amazing result!

A huge thanks to everyone involved and especially Litter Free Felixstowe who helped us with extra equipment on the day.

If you know of a green space in Suffolk that could do with some help, do get in touch with fundraising@rspca-suffolkcentral.org.uk – we may be able to organise a litter pick near you.

Good news, we have a new date for our Bury St Edmunds Fun Dog Show!

Join us for a fabulously Fun Dog Show at the Great Barton Village Hall & Football Ground on Sunday 25 October, 11:30am – 3:30pm. Free entry, with plenty of free parking!

As always, our friendly fun dog show is the centrepiece of the event, but there will be lots of stalls and activities to keep you entertained. We will be having an RSPCA tombola and raffle, we’ll be serving our usual high quality home-baked refreshments, the fabulous team at Britten’s Bites will be serving up amazing burgers, and there will be craft stalls, pet products and accessories for sale.

Dog Show registration from 12 noon.
Judging from 1pm.

Each prize winner (first, second and highly commended in each class) will receive a rosette and prize bag with the Class winner receiving a voucher from our kind sponsors, Gladwells Pet & Country stores. You can find out more about Gladwells and the locations of their stores across Suffolk here. The Dog of the Day will also receive a special rosette and trophy to take home courtesy of P&R Locksmiths and an extra voucher from Gladwells!

Dog show classes with approx. timings are:

1pm: Crossbreed with Character

1:15pm: Happiest Hound

1:30pm: Young at Heart (dogs 8 years +)
Class kindly sponsored by

1:45pm: Second Chance (any rescue dog)

2pm: Fabulous Female

2:15pm: Marvellous Male

2:30pm: Lovely Mover (Strutters, prancers, wheelies and bouncers all welcome!)
Class kindly sponsored by

2:45pm: Dog of the Day (open only to the first prize winners of previous classes)

All times are approximate and subject to change

₤3.00 per class or 3 classes for ₤8 (per dog)
– Maximum 3 classes per dog.
– No puppies under 6 months old accepted in any class.
– Please note: dogs with docked tails or cropped ears can only be shown in the ‘Second Chance’ class.
– No unaccompanied children under 14.

All proceeds will go to the RSPCA Suffolk Central Branch to help animals in need across Suffolk.

We have some spaces for stalls/trade stands. If you are interested in attending, please contact Mary Taylor at mary.taylor@rspca-suffolkcentral.org.uk for more information and availability.

Please note:

Our dog shows are meant to be a fun day out for you and your pooch. However, this should never come at a risk to your pet. As the British weather can get very hot so we will be monitoring the temperatures and, unless we feel we can operate in a safe comfortable environment for your dogs, we may cancel this event at short notice. We urge you to read our guidance on taking dogs out in hot weather, which can be found here.