Guide Dogs Week blog
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All about this blog...
Welcome to the Guide Dogs Week blog. As we count down to 1 October, we’ll be keeping you up to date with all the events and challenges we hear about. And we need you to do the same! Please use the blog to let everyone know what you’re doing, spread the word and get as many people as possible involved in Guide Dogs Week.
Stories about Guide Dogs Week are still coming in. Here’s a great one from guest blogger Wilma MacLachlan, a Puppy Walking Supervisor from the Edinburgh and West Lothian team.
More than 80 puppy walkers and puppies from across the central belt of Scotland got together to celebrate our 80th anniversary
Our initial target was to have 80 walkers doing 80 yards, then our senior supervisor, Judy Burnett, volunteered to walk 80 yards 80 times if everyone sponsored her for £1. Judy was joined on each section by a puppy walker and pup, successfully completing her walk and raising £83.
After that, to boost our energy levels, we all had cup cakes - there should really only have been 80 but I am sure more than that were consumed!
We had ambitious plans to get everyone, including the dogs, into the shape of “80” for a photo – and it worked! We had a guide dog owner and his dog there too, just to remind us what our day of fun was all about.
We also had a large anniversary cake donated by Asda, decorated with a lovely photo of pup Heather.
It was a great day, giving puppy walkers from different areas the chance to meet and raising over £800. Thanks to everyone who came, staff and volunteers, especially puppy walker Nikki Neesam. Before the event several people said, "it will be mayhem will all those pups". I’m happy to say it wasn’t, thanks to our dedicated puppy walkers who did a wonderful job - as they do every day.
Posted by on 10:19am Thu 20 Oct 2011 | Read comments | Post a comment
Thank you - and keep blogging!
We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part in Guide Dogs Week 2011. It’s been fantastic to see so many people getting out and spreading the word about Guide Dogs’ life-changing work. We’ve done it in person, talking to people in the streets and at events; we’ve done it through the...Read the full post
Posted by on 5:26pm Fri 14 Oct 2011 | Read comments (1) | Post a comment
"March of the Guide Dogs" in Liverpool
Guide Dogs Week may be over but the blog will stay live for a couple of weeks so we can post more of your great stories. Here’s one from guest blogger, Penny Williams – look out for more later this week. The Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales District Team decided to take their event home to the...Read the full post
Posted by on 1:35pm Tue 11 Oct 2011 | Read comments (3) | Post a comment
Winning friends in Wales and the West
Thank you to Guide Dogs Trustee Elizabeth Hubbick for today’s guest blog. Guide Dogs Week was off to a flying start for us. In the Exeter and District branch always we always try and organise our flag day to coincide with Guide Dogs Week – but we can’t usually count on such beautiful weather. The...Read the full post
Posted by on 2:58pm Thu 6 Oct 2011 | Read comments | Post a comment
Getting active for Guide Dogs Week
A lot of people are cycling their way through Guide Dogs Week – though some of them won’t be moving very far! We know of at least two teams who are doing static bike rides. In Exeter City Centre, the team will be getting nowhere fast, cycling 80 kilometres between them. And in Leamington, they’ll...Read the full post
Posted by on 12:56pm Mon 3 Oct 2011 | Read comments (1) | Post a comment
Can you make pom-poms – in a hurry?
This guest blog comes from Nic Morgan, District Team Support Worker in Leeds. Leeds District and Fundraising team need yellow and blue pom-poms to mark each collecting box placed during our Collecting Box Challenge for Guide Dogs Week next Wednesday, 5 October. We intend to have two of our...Read the full post
Posted by on 5:01pm Thu 29 Sep 2011 | Read comments (1) | Post a comment
Personal challenges for Guide Dogs Week
As well as all the great team events going on during Guide Dogs Week, many people are taking on personal challenges. Amongst the staff at Guide Dogs, for instance, is District Team Support Worker Ally Bennett from Belfast, who’s completed her challenge early. Ally ran a “kilomathon” – that’s 26...Read the full post
Posted by on 1:53pm Tue 27 Sep 2011 | Read comments | Post a comment
Training hard in Kent and East Sussex
In Kent and East Sussex, members of the District Team are really cracking on with the training for their event. They’re going to be doing an 80 mile walk along the Weald Way, from Gravesend to Eastbourne. They’ll cover about 16 miles a day over three days, in a relay system (in case you were...Read the full post
Posted by on 2:11pm Tue 27 Sep 2011 | Read comments | Post a comment
Blind navigators for vintage car rally
Today’s guest blogger is guide dog owner, Phil Lee, who’ll be taking part in a vintage car rally in Colchester, Essex When Guide Dogs Information Officer, Sue Rowen, asked if I’d like to be a navigator in a vintage car rally, I jumped at the chance. I’ve never even been in a vintage car before,...Read the full post
Posted by on 11:02am Tue 20 Sep 2011 | Read comments | Post a comment
Dinner in the Dark
Fine food for people with an appetite for adventure - Southampton’s Dinner in the Dark is set to be an evening not to forget. Guest blogger, Jessica Fitzgerald, Mobility Instructor for Guide Dogs, writes: On 7 October we’re going to be hosting a Dinner in the Dark Sensory Experience at Southampton...Read the full post
Posted by on 11:46am Thu 15 Sep 2011 | Read comments | Post a comment
Big plans for Belfast
This guest blog comes from Alison Bennett, District Team Support Worker in Northern Ireland. Organising a big event is always a challenge, and our Go for 80 activity has been no exception. There have been a few hair-raising moments but we’re now very lucky to have secured a great venue and our...Read the full post
Posted by on 4:11pm Fri 9 Sep 2011 | Read comments (4) | Post a comment
We met Brad Pitt while training for Guide Dogs Week
This star-studded guest blog comes from Guide Dog Mobility Instructor Shona Mathie: I belong to an all-female motorcycle club called the Curvy Riders. We're going to be raising money for Guide Dogs Week by doing a sponsored 250 mile ride across Scotland as our 'Go for 80' challenge - more of which...Read the full post
Posted by on 3:09pm Fri 2 Sep 2011 | Read comments | Post a comment
Go walkies in the Shropshire sunshine
Go walkies in the Shropshire sunshine Guest blogger Chris Floyd, District Team Manager in Shrewsbury, writes: Our plans to mark Guide Dogs Week in the Shropshire area are now firmly set. Working with The Shrewsbury branch, we have ambitious plans for at least 80 dog teams to take part in a 'Go...Read the full post
Posted by on 3:02pm Wed 31 Aug 2011 | Read comments (2) | Post a comment
Going for 80 in Scotland
We’re pleased to say there’s no let-up in the preparations for Guide Dogs Week. We’ve just heard from the South Scotland District Team, who will be inviting the people of Edinburgh, Dumfries, Livingston and the Borders to walk blindfold through shopping centres and pay £1 for the experience. Of...Read the full post
Posted by on 9:51am Thu 1 Sep 2011 | Read comments (2) | Post a comment
Gearing up for Guide Dogs Week
Gearing up for Guide Dogs Week It’s getting a tad hectic here at Guide Dogs. Staff and volunteers up and down the UK are working incredibly hard, getting ready to “Go for 80” and there are some truly amazing events taking shape. In Cardiff, they’re going 80s mad, planning a themed event on 14...Read the full post
Posted by on 1:32pm Wed 31 Aug 2011 | Read comments (3) | Post a comment
