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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
We are pleased to welcome our first, Canine Partners, litter of Labradoodle puppies! Canine partner mum Rosa is doing well, and her puppies are now allocated and due to go out to their volunteer Puppy Parents at the beginning of August.
This is progress towards the Charity trying to meet the needs of successor partners who have a medical reason for being placed with a dog with a lower moulting coat. This will be our first line of breeding of Labradoodles in a longer-term plan. We aim to learn from this litter and hope to continue to improve, and evolve, our supply of Poodle crosses as we move forwards.
It will be a significant amount of time before any of these puppies proceed through training and may be confirmed as suitable for placement (18months+). We will work hard to tailor our training to this different breed’s needs and hope as many of them as possible are suitable for the assistance dog life, though this cannot be guaranteed this early in their development.
A huge congratulations to Rosa, her fabulous Breeding volunteer and our expert Breeding Team – what lovely news!
Olena is proud mum to seven puppies (four boys and three girls). All the puppies are black, which always catches attention when mum is yellow! They are currently three weeks old and doing really well. Their eyes are open and they are moving around exploring.
See the photos of all these gorgeous new pups below.
Canine Partners were honoured to receive an invitation for staff to attend HM King Charles’ Coronation Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on 9 May.
8,000 guests were welcomed to the garden in recognition of their public service and charity or community work. The Garden Party was hosted, on behalf of The King, by The Prince of Wales and was attended by several royals including our Patron, The Duke of Gloucester.
Staff who wanted to attend put their names in a hat and the four lucky attendees, Lucy, Anita, Sophie and Jenna, were selected at random by Demo Dog, Daisie.
Lucy said: “We got to enjoy the Buckingham Palace Gardens, eat lovely food (and ice-cream!), listen to the military bands and meet our patron, as well as amazing people from all walks of life and hear their stories of how they were invited. It was also lovely to meet colleagues I’d worked with but hadn’t met in person. Thank you so much – a truly wonderful memory to treasure.”
We were thrilled to be invited onto BBC Breakfast, following the wonderful interview that partner Susan Holmes with canine partner Vinnie, gave to BBC Radio Cumbria and BBC Look North at the end of April.
Advanced Trainer Sophie and Demo Dog Fiona had a fantastic time talking about our urgent need for volunteers and demonstrating some of the amazing tasks that can be life-changing for a partner.
Sophie said: “It was a great experience to represent Canine Partners on BBC Breakfast and share more about the amazing work our charity does. Fiona was a natural in front of the camera and a real credit to us all – I’m very proud of her!”
A huge thank you to everyone who tuned in and shared the coverage!
We welcomed our community on-site at the end of April for a final opportunity to connect, reminisce and say farewell to our Southern Training Centre. It was wonderful to see so many faces and hear wonderful memories and stories. Thank you to everyone who was able to join us – we hope you enjoy these photos from the event.
Over the past six month we’ve had a period of dramatic change. In May we were pleased to announce that the Midlands Training Centre is the charity’s new registered Head Office – an important milestone as we enter the final phase of the transition to a single site this month.
In our latest vlog, CEO Alex Lochrane, reflects on the last six months at Canine Partners, including the difficult decision to close of Southern Training Centre, and shares his future aspirations for the charity.
“What a first six months this has been. It’s gone by in pretty much of a blur and it has been pretty fast and furious, both getting to know people and getting to grips with the job at hand. My main goals for the first six months have been mainly to get to know as many people as I can, to learn everyone’s name, what they do, and importantly, to find out what the charity means to them, what their hopes, what their anxieties are, what gets them out of bed in the morning.
“For me, that’s a fundamental part of leadership – understanding your people and what drives your people, because then you can absolutely get the best out of everyone in the organisation. The decision to close the Southern Training Center was made last November after working for a long period of time to understand the financial stability and the financial position of the charity, and also to look at how much work was going to be required to bring the Southern Training Center up to the standard that we enjoy at the amazing training center in the Midlands. The Southern Training Center is closing in preference to the Midlands Training Center because the Midlands Training Center has been purpose built.
“Some of it is only a few years old. It’s been built with all the lessons that we’ve learned from all the many years that we’ve operated at the Southern Training Centre, and it’s absolutely the best site for the charity to move forward. The timeline for closing the Southern Training Center is moving along really well. It’ll stop being a site of access for staff from the 8 June. We’ve transferred all our operations and fundraising and admin up here to the Midlands already. The project to safely, respectfully, sensitively and responsibly close shop has gone brilliantly.
“The project team within the within the staff have managed it absolutely fantastically. And I’m really optimistic that from 8 June we’ll have a site that’s closed and clean, safe and ready to do what we do with it next. So does this mean that the charity is not operating in the South at all? Absolutely not. We have had the most fantastic history down in the South – the Southern Training Centre has become a real emotional centre of gravity for the charity. We’ve developed and grown a fantastic bunch of volunteers who have supported the charity and donors who’ve supported the charity down there, and I want us to recreate that all across the country, as well as keeping that wonderful band of volunteers and that sense of community and support to to Canine Partners in the South as well today and going forward.
“So what does this mean for Canine Partners? Well, it’s a really exciting time. Yes, it’s sad to have closed the Southern Training Centre, but it is also an opportunity to look at how we take the charity forward, no longer trying to divide our loyalties between two sites in the Midlands and the South, but focusing purely on creating a hub of real power and energy and vibrancy and a single identity out of our Midlands Training Centre, as well as being able to look at how we develop and support our puppies and our dogs and our partnerships in different ways all around the country in a really mobile and flexible and agile way.
“The wonderful skill of Canine Partners is not in bricks and mortar, but it’s in our amazing staff, our Puppy Development Coordinators, our Advanced Training and our Aftercare Training Instructors. And I want them to be delivering their amazing ability all around the country. So will we be creating new partnerships? Absolutely. We’ve got to regain the ground that we’ve lost through Covid, through all the factors that really hit us hard as a result of lockdowns and stopping breeding and stopping the development of puppies in communities. We’ve got to recover that lost ground.
“We’ve got to look at new ways of doing things out of our Midlands Training Centre. We’ve got to recruit new Advanced Trainers and then we will not only be creating the partnerships we are now, we will be creating more. So what about those living with a disability who are on our waiting list? You are my biggest priority. Besides the team. The team will deliver the most amazing partnerships for you those living with a disability. My overriding aim is to make sure that this charity continues to change the lives of those with disability to allow you to live the lives you want to live with an amazing canine partner beside you and not necessarily to live the life that society thinks you ought to live because the doors are too narrow. There are only stairs or there are no lifts or the kerbs are too high. I want us to be able to create the most amazing partnerships to give disabled people the most amazing partners that they can. They can walk alongside and they can have alongside them to have the most fulfilling life possible.
“So what about my visions and aspirations for the charity going forward? Well, it’s simple to grow. We need to recover the ground that we’ve lost during Covid. We need to rebuild a fantastic team at the Midlands Training Centre in the same way that we had a fantastic community and team at the Southern training in Heyshott Southern Training Centre, in short. And then to grow that around the country, to develop more satellites, to do more of what we do today and do it more and better well into the future.”
Alex Lochrane, CEO of Canine Partners, June 2023
Canine Partners is pleased to announce that the Midlands Training Centre is the charity’s new registered Head Office. This is an important milestone as we enter the final phase of the transition to a single site from June.
The charity’s Advanced Training Team is fully operational from the Midlands Centre and busy with dog training, matching visits and planning placements for the coming months. The Breeding Team are also excited to have another litter on the way and are looking forward to the arrival of some mid-summer pups.
We were delighted to welcome our community on-site at the Southern Centre at the end of April for a final opportunity to connect and reminisce in person. It was wonderful to see so many faces and share stories and we thank everyone who was able to join us. We will share an update and photos on our blog soon, so please keep an eye out.
You may also have seen Advanced Trainer Sophie Reed with Demo Dog Fiona, starring on the BBC Breakfast red sofa on bank holiday Monday 1 May. We were thrilled to be invited onto the show, following the wonderful interview that partner Susan Holmes with Vinnie, gave to BBC Radio Cumbria and BBC Look North at the end of April. Our huge thanks to our TV stars, both human and canine; their passion and commitment to the charity shone through and they have helped spread awareness of Canine Partners far and wide.
One topic, highlighted in both recent TV interviews, is the charity’s urgent need for volunteers to look after our puppies and dogs. CEO Alex Lochrane is also taking to the airwaves this spring, talking to local radio stations about our volunteer opportunities so please listen out for him! Volunteering is so rewarding, with plenty of furry cuddles and the satisfaction of seeing puppies and dogs go on to transform lives. In the words of one partner, “I never realised the enormous difference that my canine partner would make to my confidence, relationships, inclusion in my community & family. I finally feel whole again.” Visit our website to find out how you can get involved in supporting our next generation of life-changers.
Staff and volunteers will also be at upcoming events up and down the country in the coming months. For a chance to meet the team and see our demo dogs in action check out the dates here and if you’d like to volunteer at our events, please get in touch on volunteer@caninepartners.org.uk.
Canine Partners is also hiring! We’re thrilled to be expanding our team with exciting roles available, both remote and office-based, including Trustee roles too. If you’re passionate about people and dogs and interested in joining our Canine Partners community, please take a look at our vacancies – we’d love to hear from you!
The charity has a new registered address but our phone numbers and other contact details remain the same – find all the details here. Please get in touch with queries or feedback to info@caninepartners.org.uk or speak with your Canine Partners contact. To stay up to date, sign up to our E-news and don’t forget to connect with us on social media too.
Following December’s announcement of the intention to close the Southern Training Centre at Heyshott, plans are now underway to implement this decision, led by CEO Alex Lochrane.
Alex explains, “Canine Partners, like many other charities, is experiencing tough financial challenges, as a result of the pandemic, but compounded by the rising cost of living and energy prices. Becoming a single operating site will reduce costs and safeguard the financial future of the Charity ensuring funds remain focussed on delivering as many of our amazing partnerships as possible, now and in the future.”
The Charity’s Midlands Training Centre is located near Loughborough in Leicestershire. Its location and purpose-built facilities make it well suited to continue to deliver services to beneficiaries across the UK and to support all areas of work from one base. The Centre will become Canine Partners registered Head Office from the start of May. At the same time, Advanced Training operations currently in the South will begin moving to the Midlands. Southern-based Fundraising and other office teams start remote working in June and the Southern Training Centre will close as an operational site.
Acknowledging that the timetable for closure is ambitious, and is subject to change, Alex explains that “by focussing our efforts on closing as soon as is safe and practicable, the Charity will start to benefit from the opportunities presented by this organisational change.” Alex’s priority is to ensure the closure is carried out compassionately, responsibly, sensitively and efficiently. He says, “The site at Heyshott has been the centre of operations for the Charity for many years and it is essential that for the Canine Partners community of staff, partners, volunteers and supporters connected with the Centre, that the impact of this change is minimised.”
A formal staff consultation, to identify opportunities for those whose roles are most impacted by the closure, will conclude in March. In parallel, the measures necessary to support staff working remotely and the areas of work that need to transition to the Midlands Training Centre, are all being reviewed.
Although Canine Partners is closing the doors to the Southern Training Centre, the Charity has deep, enduring relationships in the area, and Aftercare, Puppy Training and Fundraising teams will remain active and fully engaged in the South. Alex confirms, “Southern region partners and waiting list applicants, our amazing puppy volunteers, and our wonderful community of donors, funders and supporters, will all continue to receive the levels of support and opportunities to engage with the Charity, that they currently enjoy.”
Both Training Centres remain open and operational at this time. Although there is a significant focus on the closure, the Charity continues to operate ‘business as usual’, with a busy start to the year already for the Charity’s Breeding and Training teams. Two new puppy litters are now 8-weeks-old and being introduced into their new Puppy Parent homes. Life-changing partnerships have already been created this year with two dogs successfully placed and now making a difference to their partners’ lives; further placements are in their final stages.
Alex and the team are working hard to ensure a smooth transition by the closure in June and will continue to share updates regularly. If you have any queries in the meantime, please speak with your Canine Partners contact, or get in touch at news@caninepartners.org.uk.
Date: 27 February 2023
Canine Partners are pleased to announce the appointment of Alex Lochrane as our new CEO. Alex joins the team from Monday 5 December and brings with him a wealth of experience and leadership from over 15 years working in the charity sector. Read Alex’s bio here.
Following months of deliberation, the extremely difficult decision to close the Southern Training Centre in Heyshott and have just one National Traning Centre head office in Leicestershire has been reached in order to reduce costs and safeguard the future of the charity in these challenging economic times.
Canine Partners has changed significantly since the pandemic hit in 2020. The economic outlook is poor and the climate for charitable fundraising remains challenging. The last two years have seen a steady increase in costs, exacerbated by the cost of living and energy price increases in the last 12 months. The Southern Training Centre requires significant and increasing levels of investment to enable it to operate safely and effectively. Despite the incredible generosity of all our supporters, donors and funders, our expenditure has exceeded our income growth and this is, of course, unsustainable. We now need to ensure our funds remain focused where they are needed, to deliver as many of our amazing partnerships as possible, now and into the future.
The priority of our new CEO Alex, will be to lead the organisation in the planning and implementation of the closure and transition to a single centre organisation. He will collaborate closely across the charity in the coming weeks, to determine how best to implement the decision and the timeframe to do so. We understand the closure of Heyshott brings uncertainty and concern; it has been the centre for our operations for many years and carries an enormous legacy of goodwill in the area.
Following this announcement, there is no immediate change to any activity. Both our Centres continue to remain open and operational as usual and we continue to raise awareness and funds to create and support our life-changing partnerships. Keeping our community up to date with decisions about the closure plans is our priority and further updates will be shared in due course. If you have any queries in the meantime, please speak with your Canine Partners contact, or get in touch at news@caninepartners.org.uk.
Date: 5 December 2022
