How are we helping our friends to fly?
We have been working hard behind the scenes to drum up interest – and cash – in order to get our pet parents and their fluffies reunited.
In April, our Co-founder Marta took part in the Bright Red Sparks pitching competition with Bright Red Triangle. Bright Red Triangle is powered by Edinburgh Napier University to support staff, students and alumni in starting their businesses, and develop entrepreneurial skills. They offer business advice, and a lovely, new co-working space for members by the Edinburgh canal, seen in the picture above. The pitch was only 120 seconds long, but Marta made a big impression, clearly outlining what we do and how we would use the money available. And she won! £500 for Help The Dog Fly, to increase visibility and to do some extra market research. Opportunities like this are super important for what we do, so if you see anything you think would help, please send it our way!
Not only that, but Marta had also entered herself into the 2022 Converge Challenge.
A bit about Converge: “Working in collaboration with Scotland’s universities, we uncover emerging spinouts and start-ups, acting as a catalyst to accelerate the creation of innovative products and services that will improve lives and safeguard our planet.” (taken from the Converge homepage)
The challenge is open to university staff, students and recent graduates, and is designed to support new businesses through training, support, and cash prizes amongst other resources.
Help the Dog Fly is in the Create Change Challenge which is aimed at creative projects with a social purpose or projects with a creative element. There is the chance to earn up to £30,000 in this category, so do show your support for Marta and her participation in the challenge!
And finally…
What kind of effect do these opportunities have?
In April, we were able to help our first set of pet parents!
Two cats and one dog were sent flying from Thailand to Germany thanks to the support of our volunteers, and of course the behind the scenes work of the team here.
This is what we are here to do, and it’s great to see that the work has had such a success already. But we know we can do more – so please like, share, comment, registered, get involved, and shout about us from the kennels!
Decided to travel? Remember, you can be a transport volunteer. If you are planning to fly with your dog you can always help another dog or cat to arrive home.
