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Brilliant BTPosse badge ongoing fundraising

If you've spent any time on twitter following our tweets, you'll have noticed #BTPosse being used, which is a community of tweeting Border Terriers who use the hashtag, loosely rounded up by Clapton Terrier, who officially does Admin for the Posse, after starting it with his Border Terrier, Marley, over 10 years ago.  

They have a number of fundraising initiatives for Border Terrier Welfare, not least their own membership badge.

How it started

When the BTPosse was started, just over 10 years ago, they needed a membership badge to wear on their bandanas, harness, coats or wherever.  Enter Paul, who's Border Terrier, Gimli, was one of the original members of the Posse, and incidentally was rehomed by BTW to Paul and Ally.  Although sadly no longer with us, Gimli was the inspiration for the original BTPosse badge designed by Paul, which promptly went into production, serving as the membership badge for many years.

Paul with Gimli - the face of the BTPosse badgeInset - the original membership badge

Paul with Gimli - the face of the BTPosse badge

Inset - the original membership badge

How it's going

To celebrate the longevity of the BTPosse, a new badge design was commissioned which quickly became the new 'must have' badge of pride for members!  The badge committee got to work, sending the new badges out and they even have a 'slush fund' for any members who find the donation element difficult to ensure no-one is missed out. 

Whilst their work is largely behind the scenes, they are the unsung heroes of the fundraising, sending out badges as they are requested.  The badge committee are a small, but effective group which comprises Sir Clapton Terrier & his typist Matthew, Sir Cornish Barney and his typist Claire, Sir Rohan (sadly no longer with us, but with Frank & Poppy following in his pawprints) and typist Mike and last by by no means least Sir Gimble (aka Gimli, again no longer with us but with Albus following his pawprints) and typist Ally & Paul.

The first delivery

It seemed particularly fitting that the first anniversary badge sent out was sent to one of the original BTPosse legends Sir Seb, who with his owners Russ & Sheree are probably some of the most travelled Posse members, spanning the breadth and depth of the UK meeting fellow members at tweetups.

As Sheree says, "Being part of the BTPosse is truly amazing.  We have met so many wonderful furs and their families.  We have been to some great places in the UK all because of the BTPosse.  They are such a caring bunch, always looking out for each other and the fund raising which is always fun is done with such gusto for BTW, for we are the lucky ones and we want all Border Terriers to feel that lucky."

Sadly Seb passed away last year, but he now has the lovely Boots who has . . . er, big boots to fill following such as gentle soul as Seb, who was so well loved and much missed. 

A photomontage of Border Terrier Seb receiving his BTPosse badge sat in his bed

Seb when his badge arrived

Blue and Tan Border Terrier Boots laying on the grass looking at the camera with a holey ball hanging out of the side of his mouth

And Boots who will carry on tradition wearing the

BTPosse membership badge with pride

Want to join the BTPosse?

Whilst some may see the BTPosse as completely bonkers, their sense of community cannot be denied, offering support to BT owners sharing information and experience, along with their unique sense of fun.  This support has been especially important during the pandemic, with no member left behind as online events and support via DM chats etc have been invaluable to many who would have been otherwise isolated either literally or metaphorically.

The rules are simple for those who join the BTPosse, you must be a BT tweeting from your own account and you're essentially in, as Clapton Terrier says, "No BT should wander twitter alone!" and more details on joining can be found in his blog.  The committee have a system to share the work, depending on the age of the BT as to who to contact, the instructions of which can be found in Sir Rohan's blog.

Rohan & typist Mike

Rohan & typist Mike

The fundraising just keeps giving

When the 10th Anniversary badges were launched, a Just Giving page was launched too.  At the time of writing, the Posse have raised a whopping £2,852, which in addition to Gift Aid and a number of other donations received direct, means the total is currently approaching £3,500.  And this isn't the end, as the BTPosse keeps on growing new badges are still being sent out by the Badge Committee, which means that total just keeps going up.

We should also mention the original BTPosse badge has been fundraising through donations to BTW in the same way, and although it wasn't tracked with a Just Giving page the same.  However the badge committee confirm that approximately 1,200 original badges were sent out with a minimum donation of £5 meaning it raised at least £6,000, although many donations were more generous so the actual figure over the years will be higher.

A BTW thank you

Chairman Tony Wrenn comments, "It it always important to remember that the small amounts add up to larger ones.  A £5 donation may not seem like much to some, however when added up it makes a huge difference, averaging over £1,000 per year.  We are hugely grateful to all those who have donated over the years and the efforts of the committee in organising and sending out the badges.  It is perhaps fitting that a BTW Rescue is the face of a badge that has raised so many thousands for other Border Terriers in need"

We couldn't resist sending the BTPosse badge committee a little thank you in the form of our own Embroidered supporter badge for each of the BTs and a Supporter keyring for the owners! (Both available to purchase in our BTW Webstore).

Clapton Terrier (typist Matthew)

Clapton Terrier (typist Matthew)

Albus following in Gimli's pawprints, with typists Paul & Ally

Albus following in Gimli's pawprints, with typists Paul & Ally

Cornish Barney (typist Claire)

Cornish Barney (typist Claire)

Border Terriers Frank (sitting) & Poppy (lying) on a garden table with BTW merchandise

Frank & Poppy (typist Mike)

Ahem . . . we can neither confirm nor deny that treats were involved in this photo and the presence of a bag of treats on the bench is *entirely co-incidental! 🤣



 

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