Penny has been a Fosterer for Canine Partners for 13 years. She is also an Office, Volunteer, a Speaker and an Events Volunteer. This is her story:

My husband and I started volunteering for Canine Partners with weekend fostering in 2007 and I have worked in the office one day a week ever since I retired in 2012.

After an initial introduction to the charity when my school took Canine Partners on as their charity for the year, we started looking after dogs in advanced training at the weekends. Since retiring, we provide foster care for dogs needing to recover from an illness, for a partner who is unwell or for dogs who are not suitable for the demands of a working life and are waiting for the right pet home to become available. It is fascinating to see the different characters and help them to settle with us for however long a period, which can be just several weeks or a few months.

As well as the fostering I work with the Puppy Office and, primarily, write to the breeders and sponsors to let them know how their pups are getting on with their initial training with their volunteer puppy parents. My 39 years of writing reports on children has come in handy! I also make the initial contact with people who enquire about becoming puppy parents. As well as these tasks, I give talks to groups of all ages about the work of the charity and especially enjoy going into schools and Brownie and Cub packs to encourage them to think about what can be done to help people with physical disabilities. Their questions never fail to impress me with the mature understanding and compassion they show.

The most rewarding thing about volunteering for Canine Partners is getting to know amazing people who have physical disabilities. I also love getting to know the staff and volunteers, who are all passionate about the charity, but most of all getting to know so many dogs and learning new skills to maintain their training and take care of their welfare. They give us so much.

Other people should volunteer for Canine Partners as everyone is so friendly and supportive – we have a good laugh too! The staff are very appreciative of the occasional cake making I do too! Since becoming a volunteer for Canine Partners I have learnt so much, visited places I would not have been to ordinarily, and I have met interesting and inspirational people who have taught me so much.