Rotherham Guide Dogs Set Out Their Stall For 2008

Glenis Julyan from Rotherham knows a good fund raising opportunity when she sees one. Her role as organiser of Rotherham Guide Dogs, and that of her trusted guide dog Zeke, is to raise as much money as possible for Guide Dogs For The Blind in her area. And with the help of Parkgate Shopping, 2007 was a very successful year.
 
But new challenges lie ahead for 2008, and it started with a rallying call at Parkgate , where she was joined by fellow fund raisers and their dogs, as they set up their stall for another year’s fund-raising. It costs £5000 to train a puppy for “service”. Parkgate’s Operations Manager, Billy Smith, has already taken up the challenge to raise this sum on behalf of Parkgate. “I’m already in the process of planning a number of fund raising events,” he said.
 
 Glenis explains: “Rotherham Guide Dogs is a small group of people with guide dogs who fund-raise, all on a voluntary basis. It costs around £35,000 for the life of a guide dog.  We need a lot of support for the organisation to carry on. In just the Rotherham area alone there are about 27 guide dogs and still people on the waiting list! We welcome the opportunity to collect around Parkgate Shopping, and really appreciate the support of the management team.
 
“ We would like to assure everyone that all donations would help us to facilitate the mobility and independence of blind and visually impaired people throughout the area, as well as providing some very special friends in the form of Guide Dogs. The association receives no external funding, and so we rely entirely on fundraising initiatives and donations from the public and supporters.”
 
Photograph shows Billy Smith (3rd left) and Denis Copeland (Parkgate Manager, 4th from right), Glenis Julyan (4th left) with fellow fund raisers. The dogs, from left to right, are: Questa (aged 10) Baker (8) Zeke (7) Erma (6) and Jenny (7).

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