On February 15, Raising and Giving (RAG) hosted an event for students to meet the guide dogs, their owners, and learn more about the charity. Four furry friends and their owners shared information on their dogs, stories, and experiences from the Guide Dogs Charity.
I sat down in conversation with John, and his furry friend Hayley - a friendly, eight year old Labrador. When she retired from being a guide dog at six years old, during COVID-19, John rehomed her.
John revealed the Guide Dogs Charity has over 4,900 partnerships, with a nationwide waiting list of 1,000. The demand is high, but the cost is even higher. As John stated:
"These days, from time of birth to death, [guide dog costs] are £57,000
- John, Guide Dogs Charity
For raising, breeding, and training, with no government help whatsoever, the charity relies on donations and the 60% of volunteer work to provide their much-needed services. Surprisingly, many of the donations come from deceased guide dog owners' last will and testaments. Therefore, a lot of guide dogs are named after previous handlers.
For example, one handler left £50,000 to the charity in his will for the next litter of guide dog puppies beginning with the letter 'G'. Hence, another guide dog I had the pleasure of meeting - Big Gareth, named after the previous guide dog owner Gareth, and his generous donation.
"the charity relies on donations and the 60% of volunteer work to provide their much-needed services
Big Gareth, a 40 kilo Labrador retriever, was rehomed alongside Hayley with John and his partner Elaine. Over the nine years they've worked for Guide Dogs, they've fostered over 50 dogs but rehomed Big Gareth and Hayley to keep for themselves.
RAG selecting the Guide Dogs Charity for their RAG Week supports all claims for the phrase 'Raising and Giving', as the amount of charitable and honourable work the partnership does for those in need is immeasurable. I'm only glad I got to meet John and Hayley to begin to understand this.
