Caremark Ltd continue their fundraising for Canine Partners

Our Platinum Level Business Club Member Caremark Ltd has launched a new fundraising initiative in support of Canine Partners called Carebark.

As a nation of pet lovers, Caremark understands the significance of canine companions in the lives of their customers. When asked why they prefer home care over facility-based care, many of their customers cite the desire to remain united with their loyal doggy companions. Taking into account a substantial number of their current customers have dogs, some franchises even have dogs on their teams that provide Animal Assisted Therapy to staff and that around 80% of Caremark Franchise Support Centre staff are also dog owners, the company is committed to highlighting and championing the most caring dogs across the UK.

Carebark invites dog owners from all corners of the country to submit photos of their beloved pets via an email to carebark@caremarklimited.co.uk. For every photo received, Caremark will donate £1 to Canine Partners, up to a maximum of £500, contributing to our invaluable work in training assistance dogs to transform the lives of people with physical disabilities.

In addition to sharing a photo, dog owners are encouraged to provide a few heartfelt words explaining why their furry friends hold such a special place in their lives. These touching stories will be showcased in Caremark’s Carebark Hall of Fame page on their official website, where the outstanding contributions of canine companions will be celebrated and acknowledged.

Emma Scholes, Director of Marketing of Caremark, expressed her enthusiasm for the Carebark initiative, stating:

“At Caremark, we understand the immeasurable value that dogs bring to people’s lives, especially when it comes to fostering companionship and improving overall well-being. With Carebark, we aim to shine a spotlight on the incredible bond between humans and dogs while supporting the wonderful work of Canine Partners. We invite dog owners nationwide to share their stories and photos, helping us build a Carebark Hall of Fame that showcases the heart-warming impact of canine companionship.”

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

” We are very grateful to Caremark who continue to fundraise and raise the profile of our work across the UK. Donations raised from the Carebark fundraising initiative will continue to support our work and we look forward to seeing some wonderful photos of people’s beloved Pets, showcased on Caremark’s Carebark Hall of Fame page on their official website. Thank you to everyone who takes part in submitting their pet photos and helps to raise vital funds for Canine Partners.”

The CPR Cup 2023 – Another huge success in raising donations for Canine Partners.

On what felt like the hottest day of the year, Friday 16 June, a team from Canine Partners, including CEO Alex Lochrane, made their way over to Battersea Powerleague for a fun day full of football at CPR’s annual fundraising tournament.

The event, organised by London-based property recruitment consultancy Collins Property Recruitment, is the leading five aside charity football tournament for teams in the property sector in support of Canine Partners, last year having raised a whopping £16,152. This year’s event was sponsored by CC Land, with event partners LonRes and PrimeResi.

The money raised this year, which is still coming in and approaching £15000, will continue to support their sponsored Canine Partners dogs, Jeffery, who has now been partnered with a disabled person, and puppy-in-training, Howard.

Although no dogs or partners were able to attend this time due to the very high temperatures, that didn’t stop the participating football teams from trying their best to bring out their inner Ronaldo. 12 estate agent teams from across London fought it out to get the #1 spot. Ultimately with a very competitive final between Savills (2019 winners) and Foxtons (2022 winners), Savills took gold and became the 2023 CPR cup winners.

The awards ceremony saw the runners up getting their trophies presented by Barry, CEO and founder of CPR and Canine Partners CEO Alex, along with winners Savills raising the big winners’ cup with cheers from all the crowd.

A great day was had by all, including a delicious food served up by Meat Street BBQ. Hopefully all the teams went home high on adrenaline and ready for next year!

Special thanks to CPR, CC Land, LonRes, PrimeResi and all the teams to took part this year:

Beauchamp Estates
Carter Jonas
CBRE
Chestertons
DDRE Global
Douglas & Gordon
Dutch & Dutch
Foxtons
Hamptons
JLL
Knight Frank
Savills

You can see the photographs from the event here:

Arlington Bluebell Walk 2023

We’d like to say a huge thank you to Ruth Narracott and her army of volunteers for raising a fantastic amount of money from the Arlington Bluebell Walk in East Sussex on 6 and 7 May 2023.

They had over 400 visitors over the two days and raised a staggering £3,082 (and counting!) for Canine Partners.

The dog-friendly walk through the bluebells included seven different routes, including a wheelchair-friendly gravelled route through ancient oak woods. Refreshments were available at the end from the café with all proceeds coming to Canine Partners across the weekend.

We are so grateful for this wonderful support and cannot thank you enough. Our supporters are the reason we are able to continue training our fantastic dogs and transform lives.

Volunteers’ Week 2023

Volunteers are the lifeblood of our charity – without them, we wouldn’t be able to transform the lives of people living with disabilities in the UK.

We’re incredibly lucky to have a community of dedicated volunteers who donate their time and talents to support us in our mission to train amazing dogs and create even more amazing partnerships.

Throughout the week we will be hosting social events to bring together our volunteers so that we can say a big thank you and show them how much we appreciate all of the hard work and dedication they give to our charity – whilst eating cake!

Thank you!

What volunteering means to our volunteers

“I have immense fun and laughter, we go to so many places and do things together and it’s also brought me lots of like-minded friends. Whether that is through raising awareness through puppy parenting, speaking to groups or fundraising, you always get a warm feeling that what you have done or said will inspire others to join our charity. ”

Katy, Dog Breeding Volunteer

“I look forward to going each week, meeting like-minded people who share the love and devotion to the charity who make this all happen. You are made to feel ‘not just a volunteer’ but I feel very involved and part of the team and thoroughly enjoy learning about caring for the dogs. I feel very lucky to be a vital link in this amazing charity.” 

Carol, volunteer Kennel Assistant

“I am often the first person visitors meet, so I have to be professional but also give a warm welcome. I hope to continue volunteering and be an ambassador spreading the word of the brilliant work the charity does.”

Carole, Reception volunteer

How to get involved

At Canine Partners, we offer many rewarding volunteer opportunities. Our growing band of volunteers are helping us to provide even more amazing assistance dogs for disabled adults. We are currently looking for volunteers for the following roles:

Events
Driver
Reception
Kitchen Assistant/Housekeeping/Gardeners/Maintenance
Dog Breeding volunteer
Fosterer
Puppy Parent volunteer
Kennel Assistant

To find out more about being a volunteer please visit our Volunteering website page or email volunteer@caninepartners.org.uk

Festive fundraising roundup

Smashed it!

Thanks to our wonderful supporters, we smashed our target for The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2022, hitting £60,000 in only five days! An incredible achievement! With the support of our champion, Candis Club and some of our generous funders including The Sherling Charitable Trust, all donations to the appeal were doubled. We are thrilled to have raised over £61,300 in total, helping us to build a brighter future and focus on our vision, that every disabled person lives their life to the full. Thank you to everyone who supported the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2022.

Little life-changers

Puppy Gregg didn’t know he would grow up to be a life-changer. Our winter appeal followed Gregg’s story to becoming the amazing assistance dog he now is, to his partner Rebecca. Thank you to everyone who donated to our appeal to help fund our puppies, like Gregg, to take their next steps. Our latest litters of puppies, born just a few weeks ago, will be getting ready to start their journey – our Little Life-changers Appeal is still open if you’d like to donate to support their next steps too.

Wonderful corporate partnerships

We are so lucky to partner with amazing organisations and companies who generously support our charity. We’ve had some brilliant and diverse fundraising initiatives over the festive period last year, successfully raising awareness, and many thousands of pounds, for Canine Partners

Sharing the joy with Pets at Home

Featuring a short film of partner Lauren, with her canine partner Fliss, Pets at Home launched a special seasonal campaign, featuring Wainwrights Christmas selection and celebrating sharing the joy with your pets at Christmas. Pets at Home are donating a fantastic £20,000 to Canine Partners in support of this campaign. David Watson, Corporate Relationship Manager at Canine Partners says “Pets at Home are a strong supporter of the work of Canine Partners. This support will very much help us to continue training and providing assistance dogs to adults with disabilities.”

Pets at Home have also been fundraising for Canine Partners in two special communities as part of their Santa Paws Campaign with all kinds of fundraising activities in and around the stores in Mansfield and Chichester – our huge thanks to all who got involved.

Pet’s Corner Christmas campaign

Long-standing corporate partner Pets Corner celebrated their 10^th year supporting Canine Partners by asking customers to donate 30 pence at the checkout when making their purchases. Pets Corner generously matched all these donations. David Watson, Corporate Relationship Manager said, “We are delighted to receive such incredible all year round support from Pets Corner and to match all customer donations during their Christmas Campaign in support of Canine Partners, was incredibly generous. We would like to thank all the amazing Pets Corner team and their customers who donated to support our vital work.”

Christmas with our community

Our team were delighted to turn Canary Wharf purple at the end of November with a successful day of amazing demonstrations from our wonderful dogs, generous donations and delighted passers-by.

Canine Partners to receive Christmas support from Wainright’s

With Christmas just around the corner, it’s a very special time for us to share time with our families and pets.

Wainwrights have partnered with Canine Partners to celebrate sharing the joy with your pets this Christmas and help you and your dog make the most of the festivities together.

By stocking up on treats and gifts for your four-legged friends this Christmas from the Wainwrights Christmas selection, available at Pets at Home stores across the UK , not only will your dog be sure to thank you, but you’ll be helping make a positive, life changing impact on those living with a disability. That’s because Pets at Home will be donating £20,000 to Canine Partners.

We are also extremely proud that the main stars of this campaign are Lauren and her canine Partner Fliss, who celebrated this partnership with Wainwrights in the promotion video below:

David Watson Corporate Partnerships Manager at Canine Partners said, “ Pets at Home are a strong supporter of the work of Canine Partners, supporting our work via their Foundation and MY VIP Club. We are delighted to be receiving an additional £20,000 this Christmas from the sale of the Wainwrights Gift Selection, this support will very much help us to continue training and providing assistance dogs to adults with disabilities. Thank you also to Lauren and her Canine Partner Fliss, who participated in a promotion video for this Christmas campaign which will run in a selection of Pets at Home Stores across the UK. ”

Purina employees raise funds for Canine Partners by walking the Seven Sisters!

Our long standing corporate supporter, Purina, not only funds our work and offers discounted food for our dogs, its employees also help out at our events and even take on challenging fundraising activities for us – all because they believe passionately in the amazing support our dogs provide.

Recently a team of 23 employees from Purina undertook the Seven Sisters Challenge, a grueling walk from Seaford to Eastbourne over 24km and 200 flights of stairs. Through determination, courage and team work they completed this tough challenge, raising an incredible £1,838 for Canine Partners.

David Watson, Corporate Relationship Manager of Canine Partners said: “Purina is the perfect example of a corporate partner whose employees have seen first-hand our vital work, which has motivated them to do their own brilliant fundraising challenges to support us. Their latest efforts on the Seven Sisters Challenge are truly inspiring – I’m sure it was definitely no walk in the park!! Every single one of their employees who completed this 24km walk contributed to the raising of an incredible £1,838, which will help us to continue the training of assistance dogs for disabled adults – Thank you Team Purina – I hope you’re all as proud of your achievement as we are to have your support!”

Could your company fundraise for Canine Partners? To find out more and get inspiration for your next adventure, please visit caninepartners.org.uk/take-on-a-challenge

David Wilson Homes and MJ Evans Construction Ltd lay new wheelchair accessible path at our Midlands Training Centre

With the help of one of its contractors, MJ Evans Construction Ltd, the developer has created a circular trail around our open fields to allow future clients to bond with their canine partners.

The new path brings us one step closer to completing the landscaping at our Midlands Training Centre and will make a huge difference as we head into the winter months.

Tim Mason, Managing Director at MJ Evans Construction Ltd, said: “During the winter months, the grass field can get quite wet and muddy, which makes it difficult for those using wheelchairs or electric scooters to exercise their dogs. With the help of David Wilson Homes, we have created a pathway which allows Canine Partners’ clients to have a greater sense of independence and enjoy downtime with their dog, without as much intervention from a carer.”

David Watson, Corporate Relationship Manager from Canine Partners, added: “Before the new pathway was built, it felt as though something was missing from our centre. One of the most important things for us is to help empower our partners so they can interact with their dogs without any barriers. The new footpath will make a significant difference to the people we support and we are extremely thankful to both David Wilson Homes and MJ Evans Construction for this wonderful gesture.”

To visit our Midlands Training Centre and to find out more about how your company could support us, please email us at corporate@caninepartners.org.uk.

David Wilson Homes extend charitable support for another year

Leicestershire house building firm, David Wilson Homes, has entered their fourth year of partnership with Canine Partners. They have contributed £200,000 across four years to the charity and we are so grateful for their continued support.

They have sponsored the training of four dogs called Wellington, Winstone, Wilson and Bayleigh, as well as helping to build our kennels at our Midlands Training Centre where our dogs stay during their training. The have also participated in corporate volunteering days and assisted with the landscaping on site to create more accessible areas for our partners.

David Watson, Corporate Relationship Manager at Canine Partners, said: “We are hugely grateful to David Wilson Homes for its continued support over the past four years. The company has gone above and beyond anything we could have asked for and the difference that the funding has made to our charity is truly phenomenal.”

Richard Brooke, Regional Managing Director at David Wilson Homes, said: “We are honoured to continue our partnership with such a fantastic charity, as its incredible work transforms the lives of disabled adults. As a national company, it’s important to support the communities in which we build, and Canine Partners stood out to us as an organisation with the capacity to do this on a great level.”

Thank you to David Wilson Homes!

If your company would like to support us or if you would like to find out more about our work, please email us on corporate@caninepartners.org.uk.

Veterans Foundation funds Army veteran’s partnership with assistance dog

Canine Partners is extremely grateful to have received a grant of £6,000 from the Veterans Foundation. This donation will fund the first three years of Aftercare for an Army veteran the charity has recently trained and partnered with an assistance dog.

Canine Partners Trusts and Grants Manager, Sara Read, said this funding is immensely important to ensure that the charity can provide the dedicated, local support that this veteran will need as he and his canine partner build a bond together. She adds: “This is the second grant we have received from the Foundation and they are truly making a difference to the lives of those we serve, and who have served our country so willingly.”

The difference these dogs make to their owners’ lives is profound and lasting and we are very thankful to the Veterans’ Foundation for their support.”

The Veterans’ Foundation has been set up to help fund charities and other charitable organisations that are helping serving and former members of the Armed Forces, and their dependants, who are in need.

Veterans’ Foundation Founder, Major General David Shaw explains that the Veterans’ Foundation raises its money through the Veterans’ Lottery and donations. Since inception in July 2016, it has given over £11 million through more than 600 grants to over 300 unique organisations, many of them small to medium-sized and very worthwhile charities, which are helping members of the Armed Forces community who are in need.