Volunteers, puppy parents, partners with disabilities and their assistance dogs and staff gathered at the Perthshire home of Trustee Lady Suzetta Rankin to acknowledge the success of the Scottish branch of our Charity.
Dale Gormley, Regional Fundraiser in Scotland, said: “It was a fantastic opportunity for everyone involved with Canine Partners in Scotland to meet, chat, relax and get to know each other in the Charity’s 25th anniversary year. It was a lovely sunny day and everyone had a lovely time, both two and four legged friends!”
Canine Partners dogs have currently changed the lives of 20 people in Scotland: restoring independence, giving family members peace of mind, allowing their disabled partners to return to work and even saving lives by responding in emergencies.
The annual event was won by ‘The Birds are Back’ and was made up by team members James Bird, Des Sturgess, Rob Smallman and Jack Smallman.
The Earl and Countess of Clarendon welcomed attendees including the Charity’s Patron HRH The Duke of Gloucester and Olympic gold medal winner Peter Wilson to their beautiful rural Hampshire estate.
Andy Cook, CEO at Canine Partners, said: “It was excellent to see a record number of teams enjoying the event in such a stunning setting. Teams spent the morning shooting before enjoying a three course lunch and auction. We are delighted to have raised £45,000 from the Clay Shoot. The money raised will enable the Charity to train more assistance dogs and in turn transform the lives of more people with disabilities.”
In 2009 Guy was involved in Operation PANCHAI PALANG when a Rocket Propelled Grenade hit the side of his vehicle, killed a soldier next to him and went through his right leg which had to be amputated below the knee. He has since completed two expeditions in the North Pole and South Pole, and has become the first jockey with an artificial leg to ride over fences in a race in Britain.
The auction helped the Charity raise £40,000 with some impressive lots, including a signed England rugby shirt, a Land Rover experience drive for two people and a villa for two weeks in Phuket, Thailand.
Milly Pocock, Special Events Officer for Canine Partners, said: “The Calvary and Guards Club event was a huge success for Canine Partners and enjoyed by all. Guy Disney gave an impressive speech about his experiences, followed by one of our partners, Jo Hill, who had a road traffic accident and now relies on her canine partner Derby. A special thanks to Lord Jimmy Zouche who helped organise the event, Guy Disney, Jo Hill, the event committee, all our supporters and the team that helped with this memorable event. We could not have done it without you”.
The daring youngster, whose family is the proud holder of Canine Partners’ brood bitch Bonny, raised the hard-earned cash to train more assistance dogs which will transform the lives of people with disabilities.
Hayley said: “I wanted to do it because I want people to notice Canine Partners more and raise money for them. I have a few more fundraising ideas in the pipeline after Bonny has had her puppies. I will bake cakes and I would do a sponsored bike ride on my own.”
A big thank you and congratulations to Hayley for completing this amazing challenge.
Canine Partners were selected as an official partner of Bright10 and had the privilege of handing out finishers’ medals to those that took part and presenting the winners with their prizes. Attendees were able to meet and greet our demonstration dogs and talk to some of our partners who have our assistance dogs.
The money the runners raised for Canine Partners through sponsorship will help to fund the training of more assistance dogs, transforming the lives of people with disabilities. Thank you to all who got involved and joined our fabulous team.
The golden retriever pup, which is being trained at our Somerset puppy training group, was happy to accept the cheque on behalf of Canine Partners.
Wanda is currently being taught the basic tasks and socialisation skills needed for a puppy that will go on to be an assistance dog by her volunteer puppy parent Vivienne Bunce.
When Wanda reaches around 14 months of age these skills will be developed into more complex tasks at one of our two training centres, carrying out duties such as fetching help in an emergency, retrieving clothing from a washing machine and pressing a pedestrian button, ready for when she is partnered with someone who has physical disabilities.
Vivienne, puppy parent for Wanda, said: “We are grateful for the donation from the fundraising efforts of a fun dog show and merchandise sales at the East Coker Village Fete, which is run by East Coker Christian Fellowship. The money will enable Canine Partners to train more life-changing assistance dogs during their 25th anniversary year.”
The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers is one of the 12 senior Livery Companies of the City of London. It received its Royal Charter in 1448, although records date back to 1371, and it was originally responsible for the regulation of cloth merchants.
The Haberdashers have a long history of charitable support and we are extremely grateful for this amazing donation, which will truly make a difference to the lives of people on our waiting lists.
The Brighton store collected the highest number of donations during the campaign so Kingston, Sandos and tiny pup Veyron visited the store with their puppy parents to say thank you. They even managed to get some training in too!
Thank you very much to all of the Pets Corner stores for taking part in the campaign and raising an incredible £10,000 in celebration of our 25th Anniversary.
For further information about Pets Corner visit www.petscorner.co.uk.
As part of Purina’s ongoing support for the Charity, staff are given time out of the office to volunteer for a day. Three members of staff from Purina’s Gatwick offices arrived bright and early at Canine Partners’ rural training centre where they were soon helping out by welcoming over 100 visitors attending one of the Charity’s regular Open Days. The visitors were given a demonstration of the skills and training of a canine partner and they also heard from someone with a canine partner who told them how much of a difference their dog has made to their quality of life.
The mammoth job of helping to fulfil a large puppy sponsorship mail-out was next on the agenda. Special packs had to be assembled with a variety of components to be sent out to the Charity’s regular givers who each ‘adopt’ a puppy for £52 a year. Canine Partners fulfils these large mailings in-house, which is very time-consuming, so having volunteers help to take on this responsibility not only helps Canine Partners to bring in more valuable funding for training dogs, but also gives the staff more time to work on attracting new supporters.
After a quick lunch, the Purina volunteers moved onto the fun task of making up special packs that the new partners get to take with them when they first go home with their dog after completing the residential course. Canine Partners has been very fortunate to receive a large donation of brand new dog toys, beds and training aids from a large national retailer. Every partnership now takes home a range of products for everything from feeding their dog to playing with them indoors and out. The volunteers worked tirelessly to assemble packs for over 40 people to take home.
Purina volunteers were given the chance to see behind the scenes on a busy working day at our Southern Centre. They made a valuable contribution to the ongoing requirements to keep raising awareness and support for this valuable work training dogs for people with physical disabilities.
A great day’s work for all.
For further information about Purina UK, visit www.purina.co.uk.
Kerly (pictured on the left) and Kingston (right) visited their sponsors Kew Electrical so the staff could meet them and see how well they are doing.
Kerly, a bernese mountain dog cross golden retriever, has completed his training and he will be helping the Canine Partners’ Demonstration Team, representing the Charity and meeting and greeting the public at various events. Kingston, a black labrador, is still training.
Trusts and Corporate Manager Cat Harvey said Kew Electrical has been supporting Canine Partners since 2007.
“We are so grateful for the ongoing and loyal support we have received from Kew Electrical. They have helped so much by funding the training for several dogs and we really enjoy going to visit them all at their offices so they can see the results of their fundraising.”
Thank you Kew Electrical!
