Haworth Cat Rescue was founded on 1 February 1992 by Sara Atkinson in response to the urgent local need to provide a safe haven for the many abandoned and neglected cats and kittens in the area.  In 1997 Sara acquired a registered charity status as Haworth Animal Welfare (Cat Rescue) with charity registration number 1058218.  In the following year it earned the accolade of Best Cat Rescue in Britain awarded by the Friskies Petcare Foundation.  

Haworth Cat Rescue changed its name to Yorkshire Cat Rescue in 2013 to reflect the increased area covered (approx 700 square miles).  In 2015 the charity’s trustees changed its legal status and it became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), with a new registered charity number – 1160138.

From 2014 the charity began a programme of improvement, and from January 2014 to December 2016 renovated its four pen units and the accommodation in the Kitten House to bring the accommodation up-to-date and improve hygiene and feline well-being.

In January 2023 Lynn Nicholls took over the Charity as things were not good. In the previous years the cat rescue numbers and finances had fallen to an all time low and the rescues direction needed updating. With a new outlook and plan for YCR the Charity began to turn around once again and now has a new lease of life.

The number of cats rescued and re-homed has grown every year since 2023.

Over the years the charity’s reputation for excellence and standards of cat care has steadily grown and this has not changed. The charity takes a pro-active approach to rehoming, and works with difficult cats to ensure that they can be rehabilitated and ultimately find suitable loving homes. Our team is constantly developing with new training happening all the time for things like micro chipping and pregnancy scanning.

We are now able to run a small TNR program alongside our standard rescues called Betty's Army, this project will hep us to deal with some of the colony's across Yorkshire and prevent further unwanted cats and feline diseases spreading.

Yorkshire Cat Rescue is a member of The ADCH and works alongside other cat charities to ensure the wellbeing of cats.

We also work locally with wildlife charities and dog charities where we can.