Generous donation in memory of artist and sculptor Rob Baker
We were touched to receive a donation earlier this year from the family and clients of the late Rob Baker. It was an amazing sum of $3400 and we intend to put it to good use, helping the street cats of Syros, just as Rob wished.
Rob Baker was a talented artist and sculptor who specialised in the creation of historically accurate ready-to-paint miniature figures for collectors and historical re-enactment enthusiasts. His passion and attention to detail gained him much admiration and respect in his chosen field.
Although Rob mainly spent his holidays at home in the UK, pursuing his other passion of surfing, in 2022 he made a rare trip abroad to Syros. It was there that he encountered many street cats, particularly those he spent time with down at the waterside in Kini. He was particularly taken with our feeding stations! But he also saw other strays who were not so lucky, and this concerned him and awakened in him a desire to help in some way. He was a lifetime cat lover, having several cats over the years, the most notable being Mimmi, who would sprawl out on his lap as he sculpted his miniature figures, Mrs Miggins, Lokie and Saphie. Sadly ill health prevented Rob from returning to Syros but he still expressed a desire to help the street cats through a donation.
After Rob’s death, his main clients in the US, Pontoonier Miniatures, in partnership with Badger Games LLC and Old Guard Games, organised the Rob Baker Memorial Painting Contest, inviting people to paint one of Rob’s miniature figures, appropriately entitled “Friends”, in return for a donation. There was a fantastic response, perhaps testament to the high regard in which Rob was held within the miniatures and gaming community, and a total of $3400 was raised through donations and subsequent sale of the painted figures.
How we’ve used the donation so far
In Ermoupolis, we sterilised eight cats from the Lalakia district, which we know to be a bad area with many sick cats, and where much work needs to be done. We also gave one of the local cat carers and feeders a sack of food per month during the winter. This not only helped her financially, since she is unemployed and therefore could not easily afford the food herself, but also gave the cats a better diet throughout the winter months. We continue to work with this colony, as well as with one in Lazareta, which we have already visited multiple times and have sterilised more than 20 cats. We are also trying to make connections around the Metamorphasis church and steps, where there is uncontrolled breeding and many sick cats. Rest assured that we will keep working to improve the lives of as many street cats as we can. This is just the start.
Our heartfelt thanks go to Rob and his partner Lynda for taking an interest in our work and thinking of us. And a special thanks also to Ben Chekota at Pontoonier Miniatures for making it all happen.
