Meghan has been secretly working with animal charity Mayhew as it struggles for funds amid pandemic
A London animal charity has revealed that its patron Meghan Markle has been secretly working with the organization as it struggles to raise funds amid Covid-19 pandemic. According to its website, Mayhew is an animal welfare charity “working to improve life for dogs, cats, and the people in our community – at our home in London and internationally”.
Meghan is currently living in Tyler Perry's $18 million villa in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles after stepping down from senior royal duties with husband Prince Harry. However, the charity's media officer said that the Duchess of Sussex has been “in touch” with Mayhew throughout the coronavirus crisis.
Sarah Hastelow, PR and media officer for the charity, told Newsweek, “The duchess has been in touch, I can't say much more than that. She originally got involved with us back in 2018 because she's been such a champion of animals and animal welfare. It's always been a passion of hers. When she was looking at patronages she got in touch. She really liked the fact we are a bit different and work with the vulnerable pet owners. Other charities don't have that side so that's what really drew her to us. It means absolutely everything to people to be able to keep their animals.”
Mayhew, who gets all its money from donations and relies heavily on public fundraising events, needs $7,400 a day to run it. However, due to lockdown and social distancing measures, its income has declined drastically. Hastelow said: “It costs approximately £6,000 [$7,400] a day to just keep Mayhew running. We receive no government support or anything so we rely completely on public donations, which are for the most part gathered from fundraising events. It's been a steady decline in operations and funds. We are trying to be as adaptive and reactive as possible."
The charity’s website mentioned that they desperately "need extra funds to buy food, litter, flea and worm treatment as our suppliers are running low”. The site also detailed how it has been bombarded with calls from people in the local community who are “desperately in need of help” due to “isolation or vulnerability.”
According to reports, Meghan last visited Mayhew in January as one of her last official outings in the UK before she flew back to Canada to be with her son, Archie. Despite the fact that she is no longer the senior member of the royal family, she has been given permission to maintain her patronages.
In addition to Mayhew, Meghan is also a patron of Smart Works, a UK charity that provides high-quality interview clothes and interview training to unemployed women in need. She even coached a young British woman ahead of her job interview via videolink in her role as the patron. The video of the ‘Suits’ actress guiding the woman was shared by Smart Works charity on April 29 on its Instagram page.
The session reportedly took place on March 27 in which Meghan praised the woman. “You seem incredibly confident and prepared. Everyone here is so excited, so when I was reading what your interests were — you have a big focus in mental health right? I think that's excellent,” she said in the video call.