The first week of June is #VolunteersWeek, so we wanted to shine a bright light on our wonderful volunteers who support us in our mission to train amazing dogs.

Our first volunteer profile is Brenda Potter, one of our fantastic fundraisers who goes out of her way to raise vital funds that enable us to transform the lives of people with disabilities.

What is your voluntary role at Canine Partners?

Firstly I think of myself as a supporter and when possible fundraiser for Canine Partners.

How long have you been volunteering for Canine Partners?

I became interested about five years ago when I re-established a friendship after many years with David and Belinda Day by meeting them by accident for coffee in our local Waitrose. David was accompanied by Crunchie his canine partner. Crunchie and I became the best of friends.

It was this contact that introduced me to the work of the charity and set this cat lover off on a mission to help however I could. My commitment to the charity was consolidated at my first thank you morning run by the Bedfordshire satellite group, where I met and was able to talk to a young woman with Cerebral Palsy.

Her canine partner had given her the confidence to go to college and study for a degree. As a retired teacher, her situation and the fulfilment of her ambition really touched me.

Why did you choose to volunteer for Canine Partners?

I chose Canine Partners as it brought together my love of animals, my understanding of the special relationship they can have with people and a desire to help a hands on charity where I can see how the money I raise is used to help people.

Since becoming involved, one of the things I have done is dye my hair purple for sponsorship (I had never dyed my hair before in my life!) – this raised £2,085. By drawing attention to myself in this way I spoke to loads of complete strangers about the charity too.

I’ve also organised two dog lunches at my home, where people are invited for a free lunch but buy loads of raffle tickets in the hope that they might be lucky enough to win a well-stocked carrier bag of groceries. In the last two years, with the help of my friends Sue and Mike, I have also taken part in our local town garage sale. This year I managed to raise £407 from other people’s unwanted items.

I was also asked a few years ago to visit a junior school to organise a ceramics project where students were tasked with sculpting tiles from clay, glazing and painting them with poppies in memory of the men who had died in the Great War. As the school wished to pay me for my time, I requested they donate the money straight to Canine Partners instead.

My local satellite group in Bedford are very active in the community and I will occasionally help with selling merchandise at talks as well as collecting items as raffle prizes for fetes which is a really easy way to support the charity. I have personally donated towards the cost of four puppies in the Bedford area and have had the opportunity to get to know them and watch their progress. In this process I have learnt a lot about dogs and how they are trained to transform lives.

Finally, I have also just included the charity in my will.

What is the most rewarding thing about volunteering for Canine Partners?

Supporting Canine Partners is a wonderful way to give people back the opportunity to live their life as they would want to live it. For me, being a volunteer has given me the opportunity to get to know a wide range of very friendly people all with the same aim as myself.

An important part of this charity is that your contribution is always valued and you will receive a personal thank you.

Why should others volunteer for Canine Partners?

Looking at what I’ve done to raise money I hope it shows that you don’t have to jump out of a plane to help (if someone had asked me to do this the answer would have been no!). If you want to volunteer, you can do as little or as much as you like in a variety of different ways, as not everyone is able to be a puppy or fosterer. The little things you do are what matter and over time add up to more than you think you could ever do.

I get a great deal of pleasure from my association with Canine Partners and I’m sure others would as well.

Lorna Winter is gearing up to take on the challenge of a lifetime – a marathon through a game reserve in South Africa, all in aid of Canine Partners.

Lorna found out about us through her role at Purina, one of our amazing corporate supporters. She has been working at Purina for 12 years. On choosing Canine Partners to raise money for, she said:

“I often get to see the great work that Canine Partners do, and understand the challenges the charity has in getting and training all of the dogs needed to help people with disabilities.

“I have seen first-hand many times through our work conferences the way in which the dogs the charity trains can truly transform people’s lives.

“Giving people the independence that one of these dogs brings is just critical to them and their overall well-being. The dogs are not just assistance dogs to their partners, but they become best friends and  soul mates to these individuals.”

After seeing an article in a running magazine around eight years ago on the top 10 marathons in the world, Lorna knew she wanted to try a Safari marathon to raise vital funds.

“I have always wanted to go to South Africa and do a Safari as I have a huge passion for animals… I have wanted to do it for years but financially it’s a big commitment – not to mention the training – so I wasn’t really able to do it until now.”

This marathon will be her fifth, and fitting the training into her busy life has proved quite a challenge.

“I joined my local running group a few years ago when I moved to the area, and we always run off road, around the countryside with our dogs which I really do love.

“This year we had a few runners doing marathons in April, so I tagged along for all the runs except for the really long ones as I didn’t want to get injured or ‘peak’ too early for my marathon!

“Overall, I am quite enjoying the whole experience although the last 2 weeks of long runs have been quite hard, as I’ve also been getting all my vaccinations done and they are having a bit of an impact on my body that I wasn’t quite expecting!”

The warmer climates lately have been a benefit to Lorna’s training, as temperatures in South Africa during her marathon could reach up to 25 degrees.

So how is she feeling about the challenge?

“I am actually really, really looking forward to running this one! I am slightly nervous too as the terrain is very different to any marathon I have done before as there will be hills – including a pretty huge one actually – so am slightly nervous it will be too hard for me. I am hoping that seeing some of the most beautiful and wonderful animals in the park will really spur me on though.”

Lorna’s fundraising target is £1,000 although she hopes to raise even more to transform lives. Her previous efforts for Canine Partners have raised over £2,000 which included the 2011 Paris Marathon.

You can donate to Lorna’s JustGiving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/LornaWinterBig5.

Want to take on a fundraising challenge for Canine Partners?

Visit our Fundraising section for plenty of inspiration and ideas on how to help us transform the lives of people with disabilities.

From March – May 2017 we hosted a number of Big Bluebell Walks in England and Scotland to raise vital funds to train more amazing dogs, as well as to raise the profile of our charity. We host walks every year with support from our wonderful volunteers – you can find out more about our Big Bluebell Walks here.

We wanted to share with you the fantastic result of all the hard work and generosity that went into the 2017 Big Bluebell Walk events, so without further adieu, let’s hear it from the organisers!

Big Riverhill Himalayan Gardens Bluebell Walk – organised by Sarah Fenn

“Waking up to a bright morning with some sun and light wind was a great start to the day! I had also been informed by the owner of Riverhill that this was the best year for Bluebells on the day of our walk which was of course encouraging.

“We had a total of 26 walkers, and twelve dogs joining us on the walk, including canine partner Pandora. We did have a handful of people come who knew nothing about Canine Partners which is great, as who knows how much support them may give us in the future having joined us on this walk. In total on the day, we made over £150!”

The Big Arlington Bluebell Walk – organised by Ruth Narracott

“The weather was good to us – the Bluebells were not fully out, but were still a picture! It’s hard work and takes a lot of organising so it all runs smoothly, but as we’ve been doing it for a while now we have quite a good idea of what needs doing! It’s always a fun couple of days and I have a fantastic team including family, friends and puppy parents who come along year after year.

“On Saturday, there were 1,160 visitors and 1,260 on the Sunday. We were very busy both days! In total we raised an amazing £3,413 as well as getting some great feedback from the organiser of the charity walks, John.”

The Big Martinshaw Wood Bluebell Walk – organised by Kathleen Hodkinson

“We struck lucky weather wise with rain and cold the day before and bitterly cold winds the day after – but Sunday was sunny and warm! We had 24 walkers plus 10 very well behaved dogs, all enjoying the stroll through the bluebells which were at their best – despite my fears that they would all be over!

“I was pleased that Jane and her canine partner Chico were able to join us, as the puppy in training I puppy parent for, Uma, is too young and Spud, another puppy in training, was unable to join us.

“Local shops and friends provided raffle prizes, and we had a merchandise stall, My Amazing Puppy registration and donations all coming in too. We made a total of £203 on the day.

“A special mention goes to The Forester’s Friendly Society trustee Gary Howard, who travelled over 90 miles to join us. Unfortunately he was held up on the M1 due to an accident so arrived too late to join us – but he still strolled the many footpaths of the Martinshaw Wood, getting a little lost on the way!”

“Thanks to friends, family, the Woodland Trust and Canine Partners for all of their help.”

The Big Glasgow Bluebell Walk and Fun Day – organised by Dale Gormley

“We were all treated to a fantastic day at Pollokshaws Burgh Hall and Pollok Country Park, with the sun shining and the bluebells out in force! Over the course of the afternoon we were joined by several hundred guests from both the Canine Partners community and the wider public too. It really was lovely to have so many of our Scotland family together in one place, and I must say a HUGE thank you to everyone who travelled far and wide to be with us on the day.

“I’m absolutely over the moon to let you know that the 2017 Bluebell Walk and Fun Day has so far raised over £3,200! An incredible fundraising total and not to mention all of the priceless awareness of our work that we will have raised.

“Given the huge success of last year’s Bluebell Walk, we were really going to have to go some way to beat it’s fundraising total but I’m pleased to say we have done just that. There are still some bits and pieces of income still to come in, so our total will no doubt creep up in the coming days and weeks. Well done to everyone who made this possible.”

The Big East Grimstead Bluebell Walk – organised by Annie Standen

“Sunday morning was bright and breezy after the night rain had passed through. Our garden at Buckby was well refreshed and looking good ready to receive the visitors for our walk in Bentley Woods! This year for a change the bluebells were still in evidence, though they were in their final flush. Some fifty people arrived to support us on this our final walk we are arranging.

“All was ready for the walkers to enjoy a BBQ prepared by supporters from the village with a good spread of salads to accompany it. A plentiful selection of donated cakes were available to purchase, and a raffle was held for a fruit and veg hamper, a selection a groceries, and a further selection of wines.

“Our thanks goes to all who helped make this occasion a success and thanks to generous donations we have a sum £1,357.50 with a proportion donated by Barclays Bank in Salisbury.”

The Big National Forest Bluebell Walk – organised by Neil Fairbrother

“The Bluebell Walk in Rosliston went really well – we had dry and warm weather. We had approximately 60 people attending including 4 partnerships and 6 puppy parents.

“We all headed off to the Bluebell Wood once again we were met with a sprinkling of Bluebells due to it being a relatively new wood, however each year we see more.

“We managed to raise an amazing £ 1,500 thanks to a chocolate tombola and some fantastic fundraising from the puppy parents who had got sponsored to do the walk.

“Hopefully we haven’t set the bar to high for next year as we had more than quadrupled 2016’s total!”

You may have seen that the new £1 coins are already coming into circulation and will soon replace the old coins.

We are encouraging our supporters to give real purpose to the first £1 coin that ends up in their wallets – by donating it towards our mission to transform lives.

If a new coin is yet to reach you, why not donate your old ones to us instead? Every £1 counts! 

You only have until October this year to get rid of the old coins before they become extinct, so there’s no time like the present!

How to donate

There are a couple of ways that you can donate your new, or old £1 coins.

• Look out for our collection tins in your local community
• Cash your coins in at the bank and donate the cost via cheque or online

Spread the word!

Want to encourage your friends and family to donate their first new £1 coin? Use the hashtag #newpoundcoin on your social media.

If you’re clearing out your old coins, then the hashtag is #PoundForPound !