Freddie the Skegness Tesco cat attracts worldwide attention for charity

Freddie the Tesco cat is a popular attraction for customers at the Richmond Drive store and it isn’t unusual to find him curled up on a shelf.

His daily routine involves heading to the store every morning after breakfast – and he doesn’t go home until closing time when his ‘mum’, Julie Maczynski, fetches him.

"He likes his routine. When the store closes early on a Sunday he comes home in a huff,” laughs Julie. “And when he does come home he is not happy until he gets his treats.

"So many people are wanting to see him I have a tracker on him now - but once he is at Tesco he doesn’t move far.”

Freddie has already grown quite the fan club on his Facebook page ‘Freddie’s the Skegness cat’ with more than 2,000 followers.

But his popularity went global just a week ago when Julie launched a fundraiser for the Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre charity, which started its own appeal this year after being forced to pause providing holidays for diadvantaged youngsters due to lack of donations.

"People wanted souvenirs of Freddie, so I looked at doing T-shirts, mugs and key rings and now sell them for the charity,” said Julie.

Other ways to support the charity through Freddie’s appeal include scratch cards, an Easter raffle and flower arrangements for Mother’s Day – details of which are all on the Facebook page.

"I have been absolutely amazed by the response – I’ve even had messages from Australia, New Zealand and USA from people wanting Freddie merchandise.”

Julie has also be inundated with messages from people wanting to see him. “People tell me they are coming on holiday to Skegness just to see Freddie.

"Someone told me their children don’t want to go to the beach first – they want to go and see Freddie at Tesco.”

A Tesco spokesperson said: “Freddie the cat is something of a local celebrity, and many of our customers and colleagues love seeing him as they come into our Skegness Superstore. He is not allowed into the store itself but always seems very at home in the foyer, meeting the shoppers.”

• For more details about Freddie, his adventures and the appeal, visit the Freddie’s the Skegness cat Facebook page.