National Pet Month is just around the corner starting on 1 April and continuing until 7 May 2018. National Pet Month is a unique umbrella charity, bringing together pet businesses and working with UK pet charities to raise awareness of responsible pet ownership – as well as raising funds.
The trustees are National Office of Animal Health (NOAH) and Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association (PFMA). There are so many ways that retailers can get involved, it’s tricky to know where to start! However, Nicole Paley, deputy chief executive of PFMA, one of NPM’s trustees, is here to give us her top tips.
Themed Displays:
Many pet loving customers will know about National Pet Month and they will be delighted to see your support. Why not put on a special event or put up some themed National Pet Month posters and think about ways you can promote responsible pet ownership and perhaps raise money for a local charity or two. We have lots of free, downloadable information and even posters on our website: nationalpetmonth.org.uk/toolkit
Support a local charity:
Work with your community and start a conversation with your local charity to come up with fundraising ideas. Perhaps you could have a ‘dress up day’ or ‘sponsored dog walk’, an ‘open day’, ‘baking sale’, a ‘pet show’ or simply a bucket collection. There are lots more ideas on our website: nationalpetmonth.org.uk/event-ideas. Whether your event is purely educational or to raise funds, we encourage you to to register it on our website. Then people can simply look at our events map to see what you’re doing and support you.
Work with your local school:
National Pet Month has developed some special classroom plans, why not team up with a local school and get involved too? You can speak to your school and offer your support – perhaps offer to give a talk on responsible pet ownership?
Enter our competition(s): To celebrate National Pet Month, we run a ‘Best Event Competition’ – a great chance for you to win a special certificate and some well-earned publicity! Simply register and enter online.
Digital Support:
If you’re unable to physically support our month, don’t despair! You can follow #NationalPetMonth on Facebook and Twitter. Together they have an audience of more than 100,000 ‘pet care aware’ people.
www.fb.com/NationalPetMonthUK
www.fb.com/JoinScratchingPost (cat fans)
www.fb.com/JoinParkBench (dog fans)
@NatPetMonthUK on Twitter
Be Pet Care Aware all year round:
Supporting National Pet Month is a fabulous start to raising awareness of local charities and responsible pet ownership. However, the charity has recently launched Pet Care Aware in order to ensure the conversation continues throughout the year. So you can be #PetCareAware all year round.
We want to hear from you!
Whatever your plans for National Pet Month, please tell us about them! We love to promote and give events a boost by tweeting or blogging about activities. So, simply email info@nationalpetmonth.org.uk
Summing Up
The pet industry is great at working together to help a common cause. Using National Pet Month and being Pet Care Aware all year round, we are providing a great opportunity for retailers make people aware of how you support them and their pets, to highlight your key local issues and raise funds for the amazing work of the country’s pet charities and rescues.
National Pet Month also has sponsorship opportunities available for retailers and pet care professionals. In the past, we have worked closely with large and small retailers. This year we are launching our Pet Care Aware supporter package. For as little as £250 you can register as a Pet Care Aware business, the benefits include:
- An entry on our Pet Care Aware Businesses Map
- A listing on the NPM website with company logo
If you’re interested please email info@nationalpetmonth.org.uk.
