This month was our April meeting and AGM. However, we began with an excellent talk on Guide Dogs for the Blind.
Guide Dogs for the Blind
Babs and Paul Hunt, together with Lynne Pinkney and Morrisa, her 22-week-old pup in training, provided an informative talk about the work of families who take on very young dogs for their first part of training. This is the beginning of detailed training to be a guide dog for a visually impaired person. Paul and Babs’s dog, Eryn, who they had from 14 weeks to 16 months, has just left them to continue training in Leeds.
The primary role of the first trainers is to socialize the dogs, taking them into many different environments and on as many forms of transport as possible. Verbal commands and expected behaviour must fit in with future training, to provide a companion for life. Morrisa, although young, showed how she had already learned to respond to commands.
We heard daunting facts that whilst 1:5 of the population has some degree of sight loss, every minute someone will lose their sight. Of this group 75% are unemployed. Having a guide dog counters this bleak statistic, but there just aren’t enough. It takes two years to fully train a guide dog and there was an aim for 1000 new guide dogs to be created each year. The Covid Pandemic severely damaged this aim. The socialization programme had to be suspended due to the limitations on public movements and interaction,but in 2021 4,044 new guide dog partnerships were created.
Training is expensive and reliant on funding. Sponsoring a guide dog is the main source, although naming a puppy for £2,500, gifting in wills, lotteries and raffles also bring in funds. Of each £1.00 raised, 53.1% is for guide dogs & adult services, 8.3% on campaigning, 7.7% for children and young people, 0.5% on research and 27.9% Richmond and Dales on generating income. Current campaigns include support on public transport, such as audible announcement of stops on buses.
After questions, thanks were given to the speakers, and they were presented with wine and plants.
Annual General Meeting
We looked back with pride at our activities and achievements over the last twelve months, both in programme action work and recruiting new members. It is always surprising how much we have done every year! A significant part of the funds raised this year were carried forward from our very successful International Women’s Day event last March, when Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson spoke at the Scotch Corner Hotel. We decided to do the same, and carried forward money raised at the Dame Vera Baird evening last month into the new year. Here is a summary of the charities and activities we have supported during 2022-23
• Colburn Community Support – donations to purchase equipment for this new community care charity. Colburn is the most deprived locality in our area.
• Colburn Foodshare & Community Hub (food, books and sanitary products donations)
• Friends of Garget-Walker House – donations to support this Dementia Care facility
• EVA Women’s Aid – equipping a flat in a new development at this Women’s Refuge
• Centenary Tree Planting (Richmondshire Landscape Trust) – as part of the Soroptimist International Centenary celebrations
• Marrick Priory Outdoor Education Centre – donations for equipment for use by visiting children
• Richmond & Catterick Riding for the Disabled – funding for a day trip for disabled children
• Toilet Twinning Richmond – working with the Toilet Twinning Charity, twinning the toilets in 20 public and commercial premises (which funds installation of toilet facilities without them in Africa, Asia and South America). We succeeded in making Richmond a Toilet Twinned town
• Sharing our Skills (SOS) in association with Richmond School – involving students from Richmond School in our activities. This gives them experience of how organisations run, encourages the volunteering ethic, and raises awareness of women’s issues.
• SI Harare projects – donation to assist our Friendship Link Club in Zimbabwe with their projects in this country which is facing so many challenges.
There are also the ‘ongoing initiatives’, recycling various household and personal items, supporting the Richmondshire Talking Newspaper and Coffee & Cake Chat sessions at Richmond and Colburn libraries in association with CRACCL (Catterick, Richmond & Colburn Community Libraries group). We have also donated sanitary ware via SI Yorkshire Region to an orphanage in Ukraine, and have begun collecting empty pill strips for recycling, also via Yorkshire Region.
All our officers were thanked for their sterling efforts in making the club such a success. The new President, Babs Hunt, was welcomed, and presented with the official chain of office by Sue
Eastham. The new Executive Committee was also confirmed. Many officers have continued from last year, but Lin Clarkson has joined the committee as Communications officer, and Sue Eastham takes over as Membership Officer from our longstanding stalwart, Sandy Baxter. Our plans for the new year are already in place, following our big planning meeting in January, so we aim to be out of the blocks running!