Guide Dogs

Guide Dogs UK

Steve Reay I became a fully registered Volunteer Fundraiser with Guide Dogs UK some four years ago and my wife Yvonne joined about 2 years later.

Within a few weeks of my appointment I was approached by Janet the Chair of the Chippenham and Corsham Group with an invitation to join them as they were looking for someone to take care of Malmesbury and the surrounding villages.

Initially we spent a lot of our time searching for outlets for Guide Dog Counter Top Collecting Boxes ( CTBs ) and in the first year managed to place nearly a hundred in pubs, shops, cafés, safes etc. Since then we have also taken responsibility for Royal Wootton Bassett and have over twenty CTBs there as well.

We are part of a very pro active group (one of the most successful in the country) of approximately twenty volunteers and are blessed with a very varied cross-section of friends including guide dog owners, puppy walkers, fully trained speakers, owners of retired and withdrawn dogs, an ex-dog-rehousing officer and the vicar of Heddington – herself a dog owner (more about these at a later date).

Yvonne and I also take part in most of the fund raising events organised as a group – Janet is always on the lookout for ways for us to raise money.

These events include collecting at many different locations including supermarkets etc. We even stood on Chippenham Railway Station for a day, the only charity to have ever been allowed to do so. The Group also organise and judge dog shows and have stalls at many local shows and fêtes. Yvonne and I like to run a tombola stall at these events.

Like all charities we have been badly affected by the current pandemic situation and many of the main fundraising events have been put on hold. Yvonne and I try to find alternative ways to raise much needed funds, as do other members of our group and I will discuss this and the effect that Covid19 has had on the breeding, training and actual “partnering up“ of dogs with people throughout the country in a later edition.

We also feel very strongly that raising awareness (as well as finance) about people with debilitating sight conditions is extremely important. In recent years we have brought the government's attention to such problems as – vehicles parked on pavements (even if a person has a guide dog this means that the dog has to take the handler physically into the road), and the refusal of many taxi drivers to allow guide dog owners into their cabs.

Guide Dogs UK supports people for life, providing all dog food free of charge and paying all vets' fees if the need arises.

As every guide dog has a definitive “working“ life, usually between six and eight years depending on the individual dog, Guide Dogs UK provide “replacement“ dogs for as long as the person needs them.

The “real“ cost of each dog therefore including training ( both the dog and the owner), food, vets' fees and lifelong support is currently about£56,000! The cost to the dog owner is 50p which is set at this level for two reasons :-

First of all the law requires the owner to actually purchase the guide dog to make the situation legal and secondly the amount is set at such a low level, so that everyone, no matter what their circumstances, is able to apply for a life changing guide dog.

This month's photo shows one of our wonderful puppies in training, Charlie, proudly assisting us on one of our tombola stands at the Brinkworth Show 2019.

As I am not on the internet, my eldest son, Chris – who has been known to refer to me as Diplodocus – has taken pity on his aged father and prepared my ramblings for publication. I am, as always, very grateful to him for his assistance.

More next month if I survive the cutting room floor and sincere thanks to the valiant efforts of the “few” currently keeping the Signpost afloat.

A429 Hullavington Link Road

The following are a few extracts from a continually updated on-line report on progress and future activity by Alun Griffiths (Contractors) Ltd of Abergavenny relating to their development of the junction on the A429 with the Hullavington Road.

What is of note is the detail provided by Griffiths as compared with the lack of information provided by other contractors who have plagued our