Littlehampton jewellers ‘speechless’ at campaign’s success

Over the festive period, staff at L. Guess Jewellers in Littlehampton and Rustington ran a fundraising scheme called Deck the Walls for homeless charity Stonepillow and Caring for the Animals Trust.

Customers paid £5 for a bauble which could contain some jewellery.

The stores raised £2,412, which has now been split equally between the two causes.

Sylvie Johnston, chief executive of Stonepillow, was overjoyed with the donation.

“I’m overwhelmed,” she said. “It’s going to make a massive difference for our newest project, which opened up in Littlehampton last year.

“To know that the community is supporting us like this is wonderful.”

Linda Manley-Bird is a trustee with Caring for the Animals Trust. She said it will help to curb the numbers of street animals in Greece, which are killed in a ‘barbaric way’ by locals. She added the £1,206 will be used to sterilise 240 street cats.

“Street animals are a huge problem in Greece,” she said. “There are five million stray dogs in Greece. Locals kill them by hanging them, poisoning them or shooting them – it’s barbaric.

“By sterilising some cats we can prevent future cruelty from happening.”

Sophie Guess, owner of the family-run jewellers, said the scheme will make an appearance next year.

“We were absolutely speechless at how successful it was. This is, by far, the most successful fundraiser we’ve held.”