Canine Partners to train
at Writtle College

Stephanie Flower with Canine Partner Frodo, puppy in training Lola and event guest.

CANINE Partners, a charity specialising in providing highly trained assistance dogs to people with disabilities, launched its puppy training satellite for Essex recently. All training for the puppies will take place at Writtle College in Chelmsford, which has generously donated its facilities to Canine Partners, under the watchful eye of Emily Lawrence from Canvey Island who was recently appointed puppy trainer for Essex.

The launch day was a huge success with over 100 people in attendance. A demonstration took place showing puppies of 13 weeks old in training as well as dogs in advanced training.

Lindsay Hurrell, community fundraiser for Essex says, “The whole evening went really well - we would like to thank everyone for coming along to support Canine Partners and find out more about the work that the charity does for people with disabilities. Our aim is to provide more assistance dogs to people in Essex and now that we have opened our puppy training satellite, we can't do this without the support of the Essex community.”

The Canine Partners team in Essex is currently looking for volunteer puppy parents and those willing to foster dogs. For further information please contact Emily on 07956 178543 or email essex@caninepartners.co.uk. If you would like to become involved in fundraising or other volunteering roles, please contact Lindsay on 07825 294918 or e-mail lindsayh@caninepartners.co.uk.

As a registered charity Canine Partners receives no government funding and is wholly dependent on public donations and legacies.

Grant received for Volunteer Development Programme
West Sussex: Canine Partners (Registered Charity No. 803680) has received a grant from the lottery distributor Awards for All. The £9150 will be used for the charity’s Volunteer Development Project, to recruit and train more volunteers locally and regionally to enable Canine Partners to help more people with disabilities.

Awards for All England is a lottery grants scheme for local community projects, bringing lottery funding into local neighbourhoods. The scheme is supported by the Arts Council England, the Big Lottery Fund, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Sport England. Grants range from £300 to £10,000 for people to take part in art, sport, heritage and community activities, and projects that promote education, the environment and health in the local community.

Canine Partners will be using the grant to support volunteer roles including puppy parents, foster parents, fundraisers, administrators, speakers and fundraising support groups. Canine Partners' fundraising and marketing manager Isabel Campbell comments, “Volunteer roles will open up career progression, returning to work or further education opportunities. We aim to provide a fulfilling experience to increase volunteers' self-esteem, motivation and well-being. The project will also improve the facilities we provide for volunteers and beneficiaries, provide a professional environment and ensure our volunteers' needs are met as well as our own as an organisation.”

For further information on Canine Partners, please call 08456 580480 or visit www.caninepartners.co.uk