Pop star makes incredible donation to Wales’ largest dog rescue centre

David Owens

A Brit award-winning pop star who has recorded multiple number one singles brought an early Christmas present to a dog rescue centre in Wales.

With Christmas bringing one of the toughest periods of the year for rescue centres, Will Young, co-founder of Miraculous Meals, the dog food brand committed to supporting rescue centres with 50% of all profits funding meals for rescue dogs, stepped in this week to support Hope Rescue in Llanharan, South Wales by donating an incredible 64,000 meals for the dogs in their care, just in time for the festive period.

That’s a mammoth eight tonnes of food, equivalent to the weight of two elephants – enough bowls to stretch for over a kilometre.

In true festive spirit, Will jumped straight from his panto performance at Bristol Hippodrome earlier today (Thursday, December 11), still dressed as the Spirit of the Beans, into the lorry carrying the donation to personally help deliver the food to Hope Rescue.

This donation marks the beginning of a bigger commitment to Hope Rescue: ensuring every dog is fed throughout 2026 with Miraculous Meals’ nutritious dry food that launches in January. This ensures the dogs at Hope Rescue will enjoy the best quality food to help aid their recovery and rehabilitation.

Hope Rescue is Wales’s largest dog rescue centre, rehoming over 800 dogs each year, and has long faced significant uncertainty in securing a stable food supply for the dogs in its care.

Christmas is historically one of the most pressured moments for UK rescues, with abandonments rising sharply due to financial strain. Last year, The Dogs Trust received more than 50,000 requests from owners needing to give up their dogs, a 50% year-on-year increase linked to the cost-of-living crisis, with pressures intensifying as Christmas approaches.

Will Young said today: “We are delighted to provide this very large donation of our new dry food and to help make sure that all of the dogs at Hope are well fed this Christmas and throughout 2026.”

Hope Rescue CEO Vanessa Waddon added: “Miraculous Meals have been so supportive to us in many ways and this donation, arriving just as the Christmas period puts extra pressure on rescue centres, is incredibly appreciated.

“Knowing that our dogs will be fed consistently with great quality food supports their health and, therefore, their wellbeing and behaviour, giving them the best chance of a successful adoption. It’s the best gift any of us could hope for.”

Find out more at: www.hoperescue.org.uk and www.miraculousmeals.co.uk