A Co Armagh businessman has launched a new venture, trying to sell 1,000 hats to help cat shelters across Northern Ireland.
Ben Nelson, who lives in Tandragee, has started “Cat and Scarf”, which sells hats he designed as part of his mission to help as many cats as he can.
Every order of a hat also comes with a cat-sized scarf, and the proceeds will be given to a range of charities which help rehome cats.
An animal lover with over 10 different pets of various species at home, Ben has called on his decade-plus experience in business to get the new venture going.
“My first venture was a coffee shop that I started when I was 23, so that is 16 years ago.
“I had the coffee shop for 10 years, and then lockdown came along, and somebody made me an offer and bought it. It still exists to this day, but I don’t run it anymore.
“I run two gyms, one in Lurgan and one in Lisburn, called Connected Fitness. I have three body Pearson studios. I do body piercing in Tandragee in Lurgan and in Banbridge.”
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Ben’s house in Tandragee is “part petting zoo, part home”, and is full of animals that he and his partner, who works as a surgical nurse, have rescued.
“We are all vegans, and we have, at the minute, 10 rescue hens that all came from battery farms. We have six ducks that would have been farmed for meat.
“And we have currently three cats that are all rescues, and then we have about three more cats that visit which we feed. So it’s a bit of a revolving door.”
Ben has been passionate about animal welfare from a young age, and was inspired to set up Cat and Scarf following conversations with his mother.
Ben with cat Frida
“My mum keeps telling me that I can’t adopt all of the animals in the world. And though I protest, I know she is right,” he added.
“I decided I wanted to do something just to try and raise a bit of money for cats that live in shelters.
“Because my heart breaks every time I see another post for a cat that needs a home, and I know that I can’t give every cat a home.
“Until the day when I finally open a Cat Sanctuary somewhere, this is the best I could do
“I was trying to think of something that had sort of viral possibilities, something very Instagram-y.
“With my background in body piercing, I have contacts in China, and there’s a girl called Brittany that has been helping me with design and jewellery for years and years.
“She sort of guided me through the whole importation, design, setting up samples, and then making them bespoke.
“She has a cat as well. She was even measuring the scarves on her cats.”
After some Brexit-related delays with shipping, Ben took his van to Belfast dock to collect ten boxes containing 1,000 human-sized hats and cat-sized scarves.
Ben has now set up a website where people can order the hats, and an Instagram page in order to help collate pictures of himself and others showing off their headgear.
He has enlisted his own “completely uncooperative” cats in his social media campaign, modelling their black-and-white knitwear and generally interrupting all of Ben’s attempts in the videos to explain the campaign.
Ben’s partner, Ally, showing off his design while holding one of their many rescued animals.
“We’re asking for £20, and if you send £20, we will send you a hat. The hat is adult human size, and you can wear it like a normal hat.
“The scarf is small, suitable to go around a cat’s neck. No, they’re not suitable for long-term work. The idea is that it’s just for a photograph.”
“As the money comes in, the shipping and handling and the processing fees are coming off the top, so before it even arrives with me on each £20 sale, around £15.60 will go to the charity.
People who aren’t in need of a charming hat and scarf combo can also just make a charitable donation via the website, although Ben is most excited to see other people and their pets modelling his creations.
“The best thing that someone can possibly do is, once the hat arrives with them, is to grab their pet animal or their favourite cuddly toy, or their dog or their daughter, put the little scarf around them, take a snap for me.
“Upload it onto Instagram, and tag us in it at Cat and Scarf, so that we can then share them.
“Then, once they share it on Instagram, they all automatically go on to our website as well, so you can see everybody on the wall.”
Until one of his businesses makes enough profit to help him open a full-time animal sanctuary, the community of hats and cats will have to do for Ben.