Jerry Green Dog Rescue urges you to tick the box!

Every year, charities like Jerry Green Dog Rescue are missing out on £560 million pounds of unclaimed Gift Aid.

Gift Aid is a government ran scheme that allows charities to reclaim tax on donations made by a UK taxpayer, meaning your donations will be worth 25% more at no extra cost to you.

By ticking the Gift Aid box, charities are able to claim back 25p for every £1 you donate from the government – so if you donate £5 they can claim £1.25, for £10 they can claim £2.50 and for large amounts like £100 they can claim back £25. As you can imagine, this all adds up and can make a huge difference, especially to small charities like Jerry Green Dog Rescue.

Alex Drewett, Fundraising Team Leader, at the rescue said: "Gift Aid is a really easy way you can support us and increase your donation at no extra cost to you. The 25% extra we can claim on your donation makes a huge difference to us and our rescue dogs.

"Take a dog like Dan for example, while in our care, he sadly developed a tumour on his left leg and due to its positioning, only part of the tumour could be removed by our vets. This meant that it is likely to grow back and will be more aggressive than before, and will therefore shorten his life.

"Despite this, Dan was his usual happy, loving self and wasn’t in any pain – you’d of never of know he was living on borrowed time! So our team set out to find him a home where he could spend the remainder of his days, however long or short they may be, and put together a bucket list of activities for him to complete.

"Donations and the claimed Gift Aid are what enabled us to provide Dan with the medical support he needed while finding him the forever home he so desperately deserved. Costs which we would have struggled to cover otherwise. "

In order for a charity to be able to claim Gift Aid on your donation, there are a few things they need from you:

• They need you to be a UK tax payer
• The donation you make needs to be from your own money
• They need your full name and home address
• They need you to tick in the Gift Aid box when filling out a donation form or when donating online

Whether you're a new supporter to the charity or someone who has supported them for years – you can sign up to Gift Aid at any time. The charity can claim Gift Aid on donations up to 4 years old – so if you sign up today they can claim the money back from any donations you have made within the last few years.

To sign up to Gift Aid and to support Jerry Green Dog Rescue, please fill in their Gift Aid Declaration form or simply tick the box when making a donation on their website. To find out more please visit the Jerry Green Dog Rescue website or visit the HMRC website.