WHEN Midland Quarry Products of Clee Hill donated 20 tonnes of their best stone to Newbridge Cat Rescue and Re-homing Centre, Marion Parsons, the centre’s owner was delighted.

She thought this would mean an end to her having to wade through muddy paths when she was going about the daily regime of cleaning out the cat pens and caring for the cats.

However she soon realised that moving and laying 20 tonnes of stone was going to be a problem in itself.

After hearing of the problem, the first person to offer help was 24-year-old Dan Shotton, of Cleobury Mortimer, who turned up with his shovel and wheelbarrow and laid almost two tonnes of the stone

However, it soon became apparent that it was far too much for one man and a shovel.

So when Stefan Brick of Brick Plant Hire, Cleobury Mortimer, heard of Marion’s plight he was keen to try and help one of his neighbours.

Taking half a day out of his working week, Stefan came with one of the mini diggers that he usually has out on hire, to carry the stones down to the centre and create hard wearing and dry stone paths.

Newbridge Cat Rescue and Homing Centre in Cleobury Mortimer has taken in cats for seven years.

In that time the centre has grown considerably; it is now literally inundated with cats often between 70 and 100 cats at one time.

The cats come from people whose circumstances have changed for various reasons but many are literally abandoned and taken to the centre.

There are happy endings as the ultimate aim is to re-home as many cats as possible but some end their days in a special sanctuary for the cats who are not chosen because people consider them too old for adoption.

All this comes at a huge financial cost in maintenance, feeding and vets bills.

The aim is to find a home for the cats that keep flooding in and anyone interested in giving a cat a home should look at the centre’s website http://ncrrhc.weebly.com/meet-the-cats.html