One of the most common misconceptions about National Pet Month is that it's "just another charity trying to raise money".

Wrong! National Pet Month is an educational charity which spends a lot of its time spreading the responsible pet ownership message throughout schools and other organisations, working closely with veterinary professionals to get our key messages across.

This year, just like previous years, our work includes visiting schools and encouraging them to build our specially devised lesson plans into their curriculum, helping youngsters to talk about pets and understand the importance of looking after pets responsibly.

More info on our Keeping Pets Healthy lesson plan for vets and schools here http://www.nationalpetmonth.org.uk/schools/

At the heart of our educational work are our Top 10 Tips which cover all the basics we believe need to be in place in order to care for a pet when it's introduced into a home.

As a certain Prime Minister once said, education, education, education - that's what a big part of our work is all about and this education continues throughout the year, not just during the five weeks of our annual campaign.

The other important part of our work is fundraising. But here's the thing that people sometimes get confused about. 

Although we are a charity in our own right, the main focus of the five week campaign is not to raise money for us, but to help OTHER UK pet charities raise money for their amazing work.

Think of us as a pet friendly umbrella under which our fellow pet workers can gather and stage their own fundraising events during National Pet Month - April 1-May 5.

Working together we ask that pet charities register on the NPM website -www.nationalpetmonth.org.uk - as a supporter. It's free, takes a minute and then enables them to add their amazing events to our interactive map. As a rather famous Meerkat says, "simples".

At a time when many pet charities are finding it tougher than ever to carry on their vital work, we think it's now more important than ever that we join together and help raise funds for the UK's pets in need. Together we can make a difference so please help us.

National Pet Month - April 1-May 5.