Pets Corner raises £37,970 during 2023 Christmas campaign

We were delighted that Pets Corner’s instore and online Christmas campaign in 2023 raised an incredible £18,985 through 30p donations from their customers.

The amazing team at Pets Corner, a Platinum Level Corporate Partner as part of our Business Club, then matched these donations, meaning that a grand total of £37,970 was raised and donated to Canine Partners.

David Watson, Corporate Relationship Manager at Canine Partners, said:

Pets Corner have supported Canine Partners for the last 12 years and have helped us to make huge differences to the lives of disabled people by supporting us with donations for the training of assistance dogs and the aftercare of partnerships. Most recently this support continues with their sponsorship of their dog in training, Petey, and headline sponsorship of our Arundel Carol Service and Lets Go! magazine

Pets Corner also donate a proportion of the sale of their ‘Leaping Petey’ dog toy and eco bag sales to Canine Partners – how amazing!

Thank you to all the amazing customers at Pets Corner who donated and to Pets Corner, who matched the donations so that an incredible £37,970 was raised for Canine Partners!

Canine Partners’ Christmas Carol Services raise over £9,000

With heart-warming partnership stories, festive readings and beautifully sung Christmas carols – we are so pleased the events were a huge success!

Our extra special guest, Julia Donaldson, read The Hospital Dog and The Christmas Pine at our Arundel Carol Service, which was enjoyed by all in attendance.

The charity’s fantastic Demonstration Dog Teams wowed the crowd by showing the practical tasks our amazing canine partner assistance dogs can do, and they even handed out posies to special guest readers!

What paw-some nights – raising over a whopping £9,000! See more in the photo gallery below!

Thank you to everyone who attended and to those who made the events possible. We are so grateful, and because of you we can transform more lives.

Missed out this year? Keep an eye on our events listings and social media for more events in your area.

Canary ‘Woof’ 2023

On the 29 and 30 November Canine Partners staff, volunteers and dogs joined together at Jubilee Place in Canary Wharf in central London.

This yearly event aims to promote the amazing work our specially trained assistance dogs do for people living with physical disabilities across the UK.

After setting up our station in the prime location – (next to Starbucks) it was go time!

A number of times throughout the day our amazing Demonstration Team showcased the brilliant taskwork of our dogs, from turning on light switches to pulling off bed sheets and loading the washing machine, we could hear the gasps from onlookers and could see the amazement in their faces.

Over the two whole days we spent at Canary Wharf we managed to raise an incredible £4000!

Thank you to everyone involved and a big thank you to everyone who donated!

See you next year!

Amazing funds raised by West Sussex Golf Club

Back on 7 September, West Sussex Golf Club Captain’s charity day, members and guests came together to raise money for Canine Partners. The charity day includes games of golf, raffles, a silent auction and a demo from our amazing Dog Demonstration Team.

The West Sussex Golf Club’s charity day raised a staggering £13,348.21 for Canine Partners! A cheque presentation held earlier this month on 18 November, showcased a huge cheque where the incredible funds were presented to Canine Partners.

A massive thank you to West Sussex Golf Club for their amazing fundraising, we are extremely grateful.

Abseiling down the Spinnaker Tower: Lorraine’s fundraising story

Abseiling down the Spinnaker Tower: Lorraine’s fundraising story

65-year-old Lorraine, who lives in Fareham, abseiled 100m down the Spinnaker Tower to raise vital funds for Canine Partners. This is her story:

“It all started when we tragically lost our beloved eldest son, Michael, to a spinal injury. While Michael was fighting for his life in hospital, his wonderful friends set up a Just Giving page for him that raised more than £30,000.

“After the unthinkable happened and he passed away, we had to decide where the money raised would go. We split it between three charities: two of which were close to Michael’s heart and the third being Canine Partners.

“After reading about the amazing work of the Canine Partners, I was staggered by the huge difference that a canine partner assistance dog can make to the life of a disabled person. Had Michael lived, he may well have eventually benefited from one of these incredible dogs.

“In 2018, I was delighted to visit the Southern Training Centre to see how the dogs are trained and we were honoured to have a puppy called Monti sponsored in Michael’s name.

“This year, Michael and I would have reached a combined age of 100 – him 35 and me 65. I wanted to mark the occasion by doing something outrageous (outrageous for me, anyway!) for charity. My friend suggested abseiling down the Spinnaker Tower, but she didn’t let me do it alone. Another close friend joined us, and we each raised money for our charities of choice.

“You asked about training – well, there wasn’t any until we were hanging off the side of the tower! That’s probably deliberate because it’s too late to back out by then! Luckily, the weather was fabulous, so we didn’t have to battle with wind or rain. We all managed to get to the bottom and, although it was undeniably scary at times, we thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

“I started my fundraising with a target of £1000, which quickly raised to £1300. The fund currently stands at more than £2000! It has been an absolute pleasure to support this wonderful charity.”

Could you fundraise for Canine Partners? To find out more and get inspiration for your next challenge, please visit caninepartners.org.uk/get-involved/fundraising

RHS Tatton Flower Show

We were delighted to be running the shop and drop again at the RHS – Royal Horticultural Society Tatton Flower Show 19-23 July.

Here’s our CEO Alex helping out, along with some of our amazing volunteers!

We had plenty of visits to our stand enabling people to learn more about the life-changing work Canine Partners does. We also had some people let us look after their new purchases while they enjoyed the show.

See you next year?

Vital volunteers

This vital role supports the smooth running and timely capture of information for our volunteer registration process and day-to-day operations. The main duties include making phone calls, sending emails and capturing information, which helps support Canine Partners to continue creating amazing partnerships.

Alongside our home-based administrative volunteers, we have a growing team of Reception volunteers based at our National Training Centre. This is a wonderful new volunteer opportunity that involves greeting visitors and providing a helpful, welcoming environment.

We hold regular virtual get-togethers to network, review our processes, celebrate our successes, and share experiences.

I enjoy working side by side with our volunteers. I cannot thank our volunteers enough for giving their time and skills to help, investing in a charity that they love and care about. I am immensely proud of our volunteering community and what we achieve by working together. – Louise, Volunteer Manager

‘Volunteering has given me a purpose in life.’ Let us help you to make that decision to volunteer, to make a difference in people’s lives who have a physical disability and to make a positive impact for you. – Carole, Volunteer

Volunteering is a great way to meet new people and share your skills. If you have a few hours spare to support us with a home-based role, we’d love for you to get in touch via volunteer@caninepartners.org.uk

Amazing Corporates

CANINE PARTNERS BUSINESS CLUB

In September we launched our new Canine Partners Business Club with three levels of membership for companies looking to develop long-lasting and meaningful charity relationships with Canine Partners.

Platinum Partnerships– annual donations above £10,000

Gold Partnerships– annual donations between £5000-£1000

Silver Partnerships– annual donations between £2000-£5000

Each membership level has different benefits, and all members receive a specially designed business club logo to display on their website and promotional materials.

We were delighted to welcome founding Platinum Level Members.

Pets Corner
Kew Electrical
Nestle Purina Pet Care
David Wilson Homes
Collins Property Recruitment
Caremark

For further details on The Canine Partner Business Club please click here

PETS CORNER

In September, our long-standing and Platinum Level Business Club partner, Pets Corner, opened their first worldwide flagship store in Ascot.

Canine Partners was delighted to be invited to attend this very special opening weekend. CEO and Founder of Pets Corner, Dean Richmond, wanted the launch event to be a celebration of family fun with local pet lovers, as well as an opportunity to support their continuing relationship with Canine Partners.

The opening weekend raised vital funds for our charity and we were delighted to receive an incredible donation of £8,138 from Pets Corner.

The Ascot store is Pets Corner’s 151st opening and will showcase its natural products and offer UK customers an extended product range with its award-winning natural grooming and veterinary services.

Thank you to the wonderful team at Pets Corner Marple Store in Stockport who held a fundraising day that raised £336 for Canine Partners.

Look out for their Great and Small Leaping Petey toy – 10% of every sale is donated to Canine Partners!

DAVID WILSON HOMES

We were delighted to welcome Andy Button-Stephens, Head of The Barratt Foundation, and John Dillon, Regional Manager of David Wilson Homes, to our National Training Centre, where they were able to see a demonstration, hear from one of our amazing partnerships and have a tour of our training centre.

We were also delighted to be presented with a cheque for £50,000 to support our work. During our five-year partnership, David Wilson Homes has donated a total of £250,000, which has funded the training of four dogs and supported our vital aftercare service.

BREEDON GROUP PLC

We recently received the expertise and skills of the amazing team from Breedon Group PLC, a leading construction and materials group in the UK. Breedon repaired and resurfaced the main access road into our National Training Centre, providing free labour, engineering assessments and materials. Thank you also to WJ and Spray Tanker Services Ltd who assisted with the work.

The result is exceptional and will have a huge positive impact on all our staff, volunteers and partnerships who visit the training centre.

Any businesses interested in supporting the work of Canine Partners and becoming a member of our new Business Club please contact David Watson, Corporate Relationship Manager at davidw@caninepartners.org.uk

Further details can also be found here:

caninepartners.org.uk/business-club/

Our first Open Mornings at our National Training Centre

Thank you to everyone who attended our Open Mornings at our National Training Centre.

In August we had our first post-covid open day, and we were delighted to see so many new faces who were interested in finding out more about the vital work we do. Thankfully the rain held off and everyone stayed dry during the tours!

Following another two successful open days in September and October we are excited to prepare for more in the new year!

Watch this space and keep an eye on our events page

Leicestershire Community Impact finalists

We were delighted to be shortlisted for The East Midlands Chamber Leicestershire Business Awards under the category of Community Impact which recognises businesses, charities and social enterprises that have developed and implemented social responsibility policies as part of their overall business planning. The other finalists are Beaumont Shopping Centre (Savills), Duncan & Toplis, Focus Charity and Mosaic 1898 with the winner to be announced at a Gala dinner on Friday 3^rd November.

David Watson Corporate Relationship Manager said,

We are incredibly proud to be shortlisted under the category of community impact for the East Midlands Chamber Leicestershire Business Awards. We have a huge impact on our local communities in Leicestershire, as well as nationally across the UK, by the training of assistance dogs to support adults with disabilities, as well as providing aftercare during the lifetime of a Canine partnership. Being shortlisted for this award recognises this vital work and also the incredible dedication and commitment of our staff and volunteers, as well as recognition for all our partnerships who have benefited from our assistance dogs. I am sure everyone connected with Canine Partners will be celebrating if we win the award on 3 November.

Further information can be found here