Warwickshire volunteers are giving something back

Among them is the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, whose guide dogs are bred at its recently built national breeding centre in Bishops Tachbrook.

Sundari Sankar visited the site to speak to a blind man whose life revolves around the association.

JOHN, of Warwick Gates, has had his guide dog Eddie since January last year, following the retirement of his previous dog and a period of managing with a white stick instead.

He said: “I kept being stopped by the police because it’s difficult to stay on the pavement without a dog, so I got Eddie.”

Having previously worked as a volunteer development coordinator for Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action, when John saw the job advertisement for the same role at Guide Dogs’ Bishops Tachbrook site, he knew it was the role for him - and he has been working there now for the past two months.

He said: “A lot of people say this is a job that was made for me.

“The potential for helping people grow and making it possible for them to do more than they imagined they could is massive.

“Volunteers are central to all that we do. Without them raising funds, looking after our dogs and supporting our customers, we really could not achieve anything. With a ratio of ten volunteers to every staff member, their importance and value should never be under-estimated.”

John is particularly grateful to the people who volunteered to care for the bitch and the stud who produced Eddie.

The dogs never met each other and were cared for in separate households, but so many blind people have been or will be given guide dogs of their own thanks to them. Sixteen of the puppies produced by Eddie’s mum Willow, who recently died, have qualified as guide dogs, while Eddie’s dad Huxley has produced 59 who have done so.

The couple who care for Huxley are Brian and Annette Ashfield, who live in Stratford and have been either walking puppies or looking after bitches or studs for more than 30 years.

Annette, who works as a front-of-house assistant at the RSC Theatre, said: “My grandmother was registered as blind and she felt very isolated.

“She was old when she lost her sight, so she didn’t have a guide dog, but her going blind is what focused the charity in our minds.”

Brian ran a marathon to raise funds for Guide Dogs and it was when the couple presented their cheque to the head of the charity’s breeding programme that it was suggested to them to volunteer as puppy walkers.

Brian, who works from home for BT Openreach, said: “That was the start of it. It’s very satisfying to see how we are helping people like John. We’ve always had dogs and even now, as well as Huxley, we have our own dog, Callie. When Huxley retires, we will definitely buy him from the charity as he is part of the family now.”

The couple have now been presented with with bronze, silver and gold awards for puppy walking and are due to receive a long-service award as well.

Brian said: “The time has gone really quickly and it has always been a pleasure.

“One of Huxley’s puppies has qualified as a hearing guide dog for the deaf, as well as a guide dog. It’s amazing to think how much he can help a deaf and blind person.”

Kelly Newton, senior breed stock supervisor at the site, said: “We have 260 bitches and 80 studs so we always need lots of volunteers. We financially support the dogs so all volunteers need to give is their time and care. It’s a good programme because it works for us as the dogs are in a family home and it works for volunteers because the experiences are taken care of.”

Anyone wishing to find out more or become a volunteer can call 0845 371 7771, email [email protected] or visit the Guide Dogs’ volunteers’ Facebook group.

www.facebook.com/guidedogsvolunteers

The charity is also appealing to cafes, pubs, shops, garages and other businesses to house a Guide Dogs collection box. Anyone interested should call 0845 3727344 or email [email protected] or [email protected]