The Cat Gallery is now in its 25th year. We still get just as much pleasure finding great gifts for cat lovers and their feline friends as we did back in 2001 and are thrilled to be able to combine this with helping to raise money for feline good causes. In 2025 we have helped to raise over £20,000 for cat charities including International Cat Care, Cat Chat, Cats Protection and Band of Rescuers York.
Here's a reminder of some of our highlights from 2025.
2025 in Images
Blue John Annual Cat
Blue John was our first new Lucky Cat in 2025. He is our 2025 Annual Cat and will be retired in March 2026. We are busy working on a 2026 Annual Cat!
York Tourism Awards
In March 2025 we were recognised as one of York's top retail businesses at the Visit York Tourism Awards. We took the whole team to celebrate!
Brighton Marathon - Raising Money for Cats Protection
On April 6th Peter ran the Brighton Marathon in aid of Cat's Protection. It was an unseasonably warm day for early April and the undulating course was a bit tougher than the flat roads of York. Nonetheless, Peter completed the challenge in 3h 46 and raised £3,500 for Cats Protection.
Raffles on Raffall.com
In April we staged our first charity raffle on Raffall.com. Our Shop Manager, Nicole, created a stunning interpretation of Van Gogh's Starry Night on a Lucky Kitten.
Inspired by the impressive total raised for charity, she painted Van Gogh's Sunflowers onto a Lucky Cat. These two one-off pieces raised over £1,000 for cat charities (Cat's Protection and Band of Rescuers).
The latest raffle on Raffall.com is for Rose, our first XL Lucky Cat (draw is on 6th January 2026)
New Cats on The York Cat Hunt
2025 saw new additions to our York Cat Hunt (aka The York Cat Trail). Bruks in Peter Lane installed a climbing black cat above their ground floor cafe. The cat is a welcome addition to this quieter street which was already part of our Cat Hunt route.
In May 2025, Cat 22 (in The Cat Gallery shop window) was magically transformed to a brand new, life size Lucky Cat. Decorated in York, this cat is sponsored by The Wizard Walk of York. The Wizard Walk has deservedly won numerous accolades in recent years, both locally regionally, nationally and internationally. In fact, while researching this Blog post it has come to our attention that Tripadvisor has voted The Wizard Walk of York the Best Family Attraction in the World for 2025!! We highly recommend it, especially if you are coming to York with primary school aged children.
Wizard Fest
We were delighted to co-sponsor the first ever Wizard Fest. Hundreds of families followed a mini Black Cat Quest to discover our lucky cats in shop windows. They were rewarded with an exclusive mini lucky cat decorated with stars and moons. A free to enter competition was held to come up with a name for our new Wizard Walk cat. The winning name was "Midnight".
New Products
Vintage Lines were reintroduced to our shop and website during 2025. A great place to find a quirky, one-off gift or a piece to add to your own collection. Pictured is a limited edition piece by Border Fine Arts, inspired by the fabulous artwork of Linda Jane Smith.
The range of Lucky Cats continued to expand with notable releases including Moggie Melts, Ombre Hombres. We have exciting ideas in the pipeline for 2026!
We introduced hundreds of new products to our shop in 2025. We will be writing a separate blog post to highlight some of our most popular 2025 releases plus best sellers.
York Christmas Market Chalet
We were delighted to meet both new and longstanding customers at our York Christmas Market chalet from 13th November to 7th December. We hope to bring our latest wares to the Market in Nov/Dec 2026.
Charlie & Alfie
Charlie
Alfie
Synchronised Snoozing
We saved the best bit 'til last! Alfie and Charlie will always be the biggest highlight of any year for us. Now 8 years old, they continue to bring us so much joy and happiness (even allowing for the occasional gift of bird/mouse/squirrel).
We would like to wish you and your favourite felines all the very best for 2026.
Peter & Alison