A CHARITY that cares for homeless hounds in the town has kicked off fundraising success with endorsement from a north Swindon football team.

Haydon Wick Football Club have shown their support for Saving Needy Dogs (SNDogs) by having the charity’s logo featured on the shirts for the 2016/17 season.

This is the first season HWFC have had an adult’s team and for SNDogs it means greater exposure to the Swindon community.

Claire Fantini-Stephens, a volunteer for the newly-registered charity, said: “It just means we get our name and logo out to a wider audience that may not have heard of SNdogs before or the work that we do

“When we were contacted it was a great surprise, they follow us and two members have dogs so it’s the perfect fit for us.

“We are so grateful for HWFC for giving SNDogs this great opportunity to raise awareness of the charity to the wider public. It is fantastic to see our logo on the team shirts and we look forward to meeting some of the team throughout the season.”

Clint Davies, Haydon Wick Football Club secretary, said he was delighted to support SNDogs on the pitch.

“Haydon Wick Football Club has always wanted to support a local charity, but up till now this hasn’t been financially possible until this season,” he said.

“I’m an owner of two dogs, one of which we rehomed due to unfortunate circumstances for her previous owner.

“Quite a few of our players as well as myself follow SNDogs on Facebook and we appreciate all the hard work and commitment that the volunteers at SNDogs put in, to ensure homeless dogs are well looked after and supported – with a positive result of them being rehomed with the right people.”

The team will be playing in the Swindon & District football league in Division 1.

SNDogs currently has 12 dogs in their care including black and white collie cross Ziggy.

Ziggy was rescued from a shelter in Spain after many years and at age nine is finally on the look-out for his forever home.

“Ziggy is a lovely dog, very handsome with black and white patches. He can be a bit shy because he was in that kennel environment for so long but any owner would be so lucky to have him,” said Claire.

Formed in 2012, SNDogs was designed to save innocent animals from dog death row and helps stray and pound dogs in the town find loving new homes.

SNDogs are often the first port of call for the Swindon Council dog pound which has been inundated with abandoned dogs in the last year

Their network has now expanded to include a pool of 15 pre-vetted foster carers who provide accommodation for dogs in need.

The charity covers all food, training and veterinary bills until a suitable forever home can be found for them.

For more information or to adopt a dog visit the website www.sndogs.uk