Canine Partners

This immense building was jam-packed with over 600 members of the Canine Partners extended family of friends and guests, both two-legged and four-legged, all joined together for a very special carol service, organised by Angela Hamlin’s Draycott Nursing & Care.

Celebrities Nicholas Parsons, Fiona Fullerton, David Robb, and Colonel John Bashford-Snell gave readings in between the wonderful music that was provided both by the Guards Chapel Choir and also a beautiful solo performance of Silent Night by Sophie Hurst. We were honoured to be joined by Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex, who listened intently to our very own Jo Hill and canine partner Derby, as they gave a very moving testimonial of life before and after Jo’s accident, and the transformational effect that Derby has had on her life. She was also enthralled by the impromptu demonstrations that were given up and down the aisles by a selection of different dogs at different stages in their training. Meanwhile a whole assortment of the Canine Partners family looked on, with many of our partnerships joining us from around the UK for this very special event. I’m not sure that Guards Chapel will have ever seen so many dogs, and certainly not dogs sporting purple Canine Partners jackets, sitting quietly by the side of their human partners’ wheelchairs.

Her Royal Highness made a bee line for our partnerships once the service came to an end, and spent a long time talking with each person and their dog, including striking dark red-coloured Icharus, who is partnered with Eileen, and glossy black Flatcoated Retriever Guy who is partnered with Barry. I lost count of the partnerships who were present, which was just brilliant to see.
We are so grateful to Draycott Nursing & Care for having arranged this spectacular event in aid of Canine Partners. Your efforts have already sponsored the training of golden retriever Hamlin for Al (Hamlin is named after Angela Hamlin, mastermind of the event and MD of the Draycott team). And this evening will have set us well on the way to sponsoring another dog for somebody else – our guests were hugely generous in their donations, having felt so strongly about our cause after meeting so many of our partners with their dogs.

And all the while, overlooking proceedings, was a plaque on the wall, commemorating the life of dear old Hugo, a Guardsman himself, who was also a vice patron of Canine Partners for many years until his death in 2013. I am sure Hugo was with us, and was feeling hugely proud, not only of us, but also of Tita who has picked up the baton where Hugo left off, and works tirelessly to further our cause.

After our guests departed, the whole team set to with gusto, packing everything away, and leaving all as we found it. Waggons eventually rolled back into our Sussex Centre at around midnight, with a team of dogs and humans who were tired but extremely satisfied with a job well done.

And now we move on to our final event of this remarkable year, as our Midlands team host an Evening of Winter Music tonight, at our Leicestershire Centre.

Andy