80 years of extraordinary partnerships

This is an exciting year for Guide Dogs as we celebrate our 80th anniversary of guide dog partnerships. 1931 saw our first guide dog partnership, and since the first four guide dog units were trained in Wallasey Cheshire, we have enabled thousands of blind and partially sighted people to get around independently, through guide dog partnerships. Find out more about the history of Guide Dogs.

So what are our plans for the next 80 years?

As part of the 2010 - 2020 strategy, Guide Dogs is increasing its overall service to include: Buddy Dogs, My Guide, the sighted guiding service and improving mobility in children & young people.

Over the coming years, we are looking to increase the number of guide dog partnerships, but we are also developing a broader range of services so that we can help more blind and partially sighted people to get out and about on their own terms.

Find out about the exciting activities we're planning for Guide Dogs Week (1 – 9 October), and join us in celebrating our continued success.

Running your own event in Guide Dogs Week? Then check out our useful 80 years of support: toolkit

In the meantime, visit our Help us pages to find out more ways to support us.

As we remember eight decades of extraordinary guide dog partnerships, there is no better way to pay tribute than by helping us create more of them.

I want to help create even more life-changing guide dog partnerships