Paul Conway

The latest monthly winner of the F Jones Initiative/ Wrexham Lager 2023/24 Wrexham Recognition Awards is Paul Conway from The Candy and Tibby Trust (Wrexham).
Growing up as a child Paul was surrounded by cats, as his parents were huge animal lovers and rescued many, many cats. This is where Paul gets his tremendous love of cats from, here is his amazing story. 
In 2016, Paul found a painfully thin female tabby cat, hiding under a car on the Wrexham Industrial Estate. He immediately went and bought her some food as she was obviously starving hungry. Paul couldn’t bring himself to leave her there, as she was obviously frightened, lost and very hungry. It was the end of November and he guessed she may have been frightened by fireworks and had got lost running away from the noise. Paul took her to a local vet, she had no chip and even after putting her details on various social media lost and found groups, no-one came forward to claim her. Holly quickly made herself at home with Paul and became the inspiration behind him wanting to help other cats and kittens in need.
Paul started to rescue cats, neuter them and re-home them off his own back, using his life savings, rescuing around 3000 cats himself, as well as helping other rescues, Cats Protection, the local police, the fire brigade, council departments with trapping cats in danger.
In 2019, Paul set up the Candy and Tibby Trust, now a registered charity, named after two cats, he had tried to save. The trust rescues, supports, neuters, and reduces feral colonies in our area. The trust consists of a small group of volunteers who work tirelessly behind the scenes, unpaid and out in all weathers and have rescued thousands of kittens and cats.
Paul’s passion is feral and stray cats and kittens that other organisations overlook, over 600 stray and feral cats have been neutered, with a high percentage being re-housed to rural farms, stables, with some even becoming pampered house cats.
The old derelict Country Store building and Jewsons Builders Merchants sites have seen Paul rescue and neuter 67 cats and kittens. He is passionate about supporting feral colonies, going out 365 days a year, feeding several colonies every night, including Christmas holidays. They sit and wait for him to come and feed them!
Under the present economic climate Paul is finding it harder and harder to continue his work. Look closely at Paul’s picture collage, you will see photos of Holly, his beloved rescued tabby cat, along with Snowy, who had been run over, shot twice, and kicked because he was deaf, now in his loving new home. Tibby and Candy, the inspirations behind the trust and whose memory the trust is named after, and just some of the cats Paul has rescued.
Well done Paul, amazing work keep going!