FORWARD: Winter 2010

FORWARD: Winter 2010.

Guide Dogs presents the Winter 2010 issue of Forward, the quarterly magazine of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.

Introduction.

This document contains every part of the print version of Forward, and in the same order as that used in the print edition.

FORWARD

Winter 2010

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

Spurred to success

Meet gold medalist Alison Corp, guide dog Frances and horse Carousel

Guide Dog of the Year

Gino is this year’s winner

Rags to Rushton

Buddy dog Rags takes on a new role

Contents

RICHARD’S WELCOME

Chief Executive Richard Leaman highlights some of the stories from this issue

NEWS

Degree courses at Chester University, iphone app for blind and partially sighted users, campaigning at the party conferences and supporting positive change at the Visionary conference

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF…

Senior Puppy Walking Supervisor, Elaine Webster

EMBRACING CHANGE

A message from Chief Executive, Richard Leaman

GUIDE DOG OF THE YEAR 2010

Introducing the overall winner of 2010

BUDDY DOGS

From Rags to Rushton – how buddy dog Rags assists children at RNIB Rushton

GUIDE DOG WEEK 2010

A round up of the most successful Guide Dog Week in the charity’s history

STAR’S STORY

How last year’s Christmas campaign produced a real guiding star

SPURRED ON TO SUCCESS

Meet Alison Corp, competitor and winner of three gold medals at the GB Special Olympics

PUPPY SURVIVAL

Guide Dogs researcher reveals how good practice and effective monitoring can increase puppy survival

NEELA’S BRAVE RETURN TO WORK

Guide dog Neela receives the first Guide Dogs Bravery Award

THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS

Fantastic fundraising from around the UK

COMPETITIONS

Will you be a winner?

IN GOOD COMPANY

Guide Dogs and businesses team up

WHAT’S ON?

Dates for your diary

WE’LL NEVER FORGET

Tributes to guide dogs who will be sadly missed

LETTERS

Have your say

IN MEMORY

Forward obituaries

PROMOTIONS

A roundup of the promotional features that are listed in different locations in the print version of this issue of Forward.

CONTACT DETAILS

List of phone numbers and contact details arising from the articles in this edition of Forward Magazine.

NEW PARTNERSHIPS

Tim Pennick and Casper – just one of many new partnerships

The team

Editor: Audra Dutton

Editorial Line: 0118 9838266

Founding Editor: The late Captain Nikolai Liakhoff MBE FRZS

Obituaries: Elaine Cobb

Contributors: Lucy Miron, Eifion Rees, Mike Cobb, Lorna Catling, Nikki Malin, Annabel Williams, Elaine Cobb, Vicky West

Designed by: Taurus www.taurus-solutions.co.uk

Published by: The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

Contributions: We reserve the right to edit or refuse. Send items to Forward at the Head Office address or e-mail .

We cannot acknowledge every item sent.

Advertisements: Guide Dogs cannot be liable to any person for loss or damage incurred or suffered as a result of his/her accepting or offering to accept goods or services contained in any advertisement or promotion reproduced in Forward.

Readers should make appropriate enquiries before incurring any expense or contractual obligation.

Forward is also available in Braille, large print, audio CD and as an e-mail text attachment. It can also be downloaded from the Guide Dogs website in text only form, or viewed as a turnpage. We can also provide Forward in alternative languages on request, call 0118 9838138.

For mailing enquiries, call 0870 2406998.

Registered Head Office: The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, Hillfields, Burghfield Common, Reading RG7 3YG

Tel: 0118 983555

Fax: 0118 9835433

Website: www.guidedogs.org.uk

E-mail:

(Copyright) 2010 Registered charity in

England and Wales (209617) and in Scotland (SCO38979).

Please recycle this magazine

On the front cover there is a photograph of Alison Corp, her horse Carousel and her guide dog Frances. Alison is riding Carousel, a large white horse. She is wearing a pale pink shirt and a pair of cream jodhpurs with a black bodywarmer and riding helmet. Frances is a black Labrador and is wearing her high visibility working harness.

The main caption on the cover reads: “Spurred to success - Meet gold medalist Alison Corp, guide dog Frances and horse Carousel”.

Other captions on the cover read: “Guide Dog of the Year - Gino is this year’s winner” and “Rags to Rushton - Buddy dog Rags takes on a new role”.

Running along the foot of the page is a straight gold line; inserted in the line is the Guide Dogs’ logo in white.

Richard’s welcome

Welcome to the Winter issue of Forward.

Since joining Guide Dogs, I have come across some wonderful examples of staff and volunteers working together to make a difference, and the generosity of our supporters. This year’s Guide Dog Week was a case in point, with so many people getting involved in so many imaginative ways helping to make it the most successful one ever. It made me immensely proud to be at the helm of such a wonderful organisation – and that feeling was reinforced when I attended the inspirational Guide Dog of the Year awards in London. The extraordinary partnerships that we bring together, giving blind and partially sighted people their independence and freedom, are truly amazing.

Our strategy is about ensuring more blind and partially sighted people are able to get out and about but this is against a backdrop of difficult times economically and financially. We need to make sure that every pound of donors’ money is wisely spent, and we need to find ways of attracting new donors and supporters. To achieve these aims, we will be taking a fundamental look at everything we do and how we present ourselves as an organisation. There are many examples of other charities that have undertaken similar projects and achieved significant success in engaging with their clients, volunteers, staff and the general public, as well as increasing their fundraising income. I am confident that we will do the same.

You can read more about our achievements and plans for the future in this edition of Forward.

As we head into a new year and new challenges, I would personally like to thank each and every one of you for supporting Guide Dogs. I wish you all a peaceful Christmas and a happy New Year.

Richard Leaman is pictured at the top of the page; he has short grey hair. Richard is wearing a light blue shirt under a dark blue suit jacket with a dark blue tie and is smiling into the camera.

At the foot of article there is a photograph of Richard Leaman with guide dog puppy Wren. Richard is crouching down next to Wren, a small black Labrador.

Guide Dogs News

Working at degree level

The University of Chester is leading the way as part of an extraordinary partnership with Guide Dogs, to launch a degree course for guide dog mobility instructors.

Working with the Department of Biological Sciences at Chester University, Guide Dogs has created a unique three-year Foundation Degree course for its Guide Dog Mobility Instructors. The Foundation Degree can lead to a full Bachelor of Science degree if students continue for a fourth year. Guide Dog Trainers, Dog Care Technicians and Puppy Walking Supervisors will get a Certificate Level qualification.

The “Canine assistance: client and dog partnership” degree will involve a varied selection of modules which explore dog care and welfare, dog breeding and stock management, re-homing of dogs and teaching and training adults, as well as modules exploring the implications of sight loss and the guide dog partnership. It will be run from the Guide Dog Training Schools in Leamington, Forfar, Atherton and London.

Guide Dogs’ Head of Employee Development, Beverley Aylott, said: “The skills and expertise of our staff are absolutely key and we have always provided good quality training and qualification programmes. With the University of Chester as our partner and the new Foundation Degree, we are very excited about the opportunity to lead the way in the training of people in the assistance dogs field.”

Pictured at the top of this article is a photograph of an instructor teaching a new guide dog owner how to control their Guide Dog. They are walking past scaffolding and houses.

Scottish flagship go walkies

A flagship go walkies event was held in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh on 25 September and was attended by around 50 people, 23 dogs and raised around £2,000.

Heather Smith, a contestant on last year’s Britain’s Got Talent, attended and walked her puppy Gerty. “I take Gerty on walks anyway, so going on a walk round Holyrood Park gave her a walk and was also a chance to meet other dog owners and raise funds for Guide Dogs at the same time.”

The event was organised by Sandy Miller, who was celebrating the birth of his first grandchild that very morning and the achievements of his working guide dog, Alex, who was due to retire the following Monday.

During the day, filming took place for a video to promote go walkies for Guide Dogs, which you can find at www.facebook.com/gowalkies.

Included at the foot of this article there is a photograph of lots of people and their dogs at the starting line of the go walkies in Holyrood Park.

Guide Dogs champions iPhone accessibility for blind and partially sighted users

Guide Dogs believes that the iPhone and its associated functionality can be a major driving force in making modern life more accessible for blind and partially sighted people. To endorse this, it has launched an app – a small piece of software that people can download to their iPhone – called “go walkies”, which is based on the campaign that it highlights.

The “go walkies” campaign invites people to walk their dog whilst raising vital funds for Guide Dogs, with the dog being sponsored rather than their owner. Building on this, the app provides information on local “go walkies” events and shows dog owners new and interesting routes for walking their dogs. Users of the app can also log and share their favourite walks, read weekly care tips for their dog from celebrity vet Marc Abraham and share images of their dog in the picture gallery.

32-year-old guide dog owner Martin Roberts has always embraced new technology and jumped at the opportunity to help test the new app. He says: “Blind and partially sighted people are generally let down when it comes to functionality and ease of use of new technology. Apple has really thought about how we can use the iPhone. The “go walkies” app is a great example of something that is new and exciting, yet also serves a purpose for the charity, and I am confident that it will get a huge uptake.”

For more information visit www.gowalkies.org.uk or call us on 0845 6006787. Become a fan on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/gowalkies.

Pictured to the right of this article is an image of an iPhone with the “go walkies” app on the screen.

Campaigning at the conferences

Guide Dogs wants to enable blind and partially sighted people to get around independently and freely and campaigns for their rights to do so. What better opportunity than the recent party conferences for us to tell politicians more about Guide Dogs and our campaigns?

At the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool in early September, the campaigns team had a stand promoting the “Talking Buses” campaign. Members of the Coalition Government, including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and other MP’s, MEP’s, Lords and local councillors also attended the stand, interested to find out more.

It was then straight off to Manchester for the Labour party conference, where Guide Dogs’ Andy Guiel and guide dog Delphi joined the team to provide demonstrations and blindfolded walks for delegates. These proved extremely popular and were such a hit that Guide Dogs won best stand of the conference! Chief Executive Richard Leaman spoke at a reception on accessible transport with Shadow Transport Minister Sadiq Khan.

In Birmingham for the Conservative party conference, a number of MP’s and ministers visited the stand, including Transport Secretary Philip Hammond and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley. Richard Leaman also addressed a reception at the conference with Minister for Disabled People Maria Miller.

Campaigns and Public Affairs Manager David Cowdrey said: “These conferences have been a great opportunity to engage with not only the new government, but also other politicians and party members. We received a lot of interest and support for the Talking Buses campaign and I’d like to thank the whole team for making it such a success.”

To find out more about the work of the campaigns team, please call 0800 284348 or e-mail .

Included at the start of this article is a photograph of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Campaigns and Public Affairs Manager David Cowdrey at the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool.

Peak Performance by Coniston Adventure Team

The annual Guide Dogs Coniston Adventure Team Challenge, which ran from John Ruskin School in Coniston on 10 and 11 September 2010, raised a staggering £56,320 for Guide Dogs.

The multi disciplined event challenged teams to hike 11km up The Old Man of Coniston, cycle 20km on a marked-out route in Grizedale Forest and kayak one mile on Coniston Water.

After a day of personal and team achievements, teams were treated to an evening of wholesome cooking, boxes of Thornton chocolates and finally a very lively Ceilidh band – to ensure that anyone who had any energy left had used it all up before going back to their tents!