Western Daily Press (Saturday)
The trailblazing dogs who first took the lead
AS CHARITY, GUIDE DOGS, CELEBRATES ITS 90TH ANNIVERSARY, MARION McMULLEN LOOKS BACK AT ITS EARLY DAYS
TWO innovative women, four incredible dogs and a lock-up garage were the humble beginnings for a life-changing charity.
It was 1931 when Muriel Crooke and Rosamund Bond started training dogs to support servicemen who had lost their sight in the First World War.
Inspired by projects in America, Germany and Switzerland, they organised the training from a humble lock up garage in Wallasey on Merseyside.
Back then, the idea was considered pretty radical, but the impact was immediate. Within six months of meeting German Shepherds Flash, Folly, Meta and Judy, their new owners reported finding a freedom and independence they had not known since before the war. Following a six-month trial period after qualification, Allan Caldwell wrote the following about his guide dog Flash: “Flash has revolutionised my working life. Obstructions of any kind have no more terrors for me now, for Flash is so extremely sensible of my safety, consequent of her excellent training. Her piloting of me along a crowded pavement is so skilful that it has to be seen to be believed.
“Not only has my dog given me glorious freedom and independence, never known since pre-war days, but delightful companionship and an unfailing friend.”
Three years later, the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association – now known just as Guide Dogs – was formed and its first official home was known as The Cliff. It was an almost derelict house but it allowed trainers and future guide dog owners to live under one roof for up to four weeks of training. The charity moved to Leamington Spa in 1941 to continue its work.
Since then the organisation has transformed 36,000 lives through a guide dog partnership.
BBC’s popular children’s show
Blue Peter also highlighted the work of the charity back in 1975 when the presenters urged young viewers to help collect 2,000,000 envelopes of buttons, badges and buckles for its appeal to buy a new guide dog.
Thanks to the immense response, they smashed their target and collected enough to not only pay for a new dog but also to help convert a disused house into a Guide Dog Training Centre.
Guide Dogs is now celebrating 90 years of helping people with sight loss live the life they choose. Since the first guide dog partnerships began in Britain in 1931, the charity has grown to provide a range of different services. These include the world-renowned guide dog service, buddy dogs, companion dogs and sighted guides. The charity has also become the largest employer of specialists dedicated to helping children and young people with sight loss.
It all started with just four dogs, but Guide Dogs is now responsible for 8,400 puppies and dogs at any one time. The charity is one of the only organisations globally that breeds and nurtures dogs throughout their lifetime – with 306 trainers, and
4,600 dog partnerships supported. Guide Dogs also has more than 16,000 volunteers who give the charity around 18.5 million hours of support each year.
The charity plans to recruit a further 60 trainees over the next 10 years to support those people who will need a guide dog. Figures show every six minutes in the UK one more person loses their sight which means 250 people a day will become part of the two million people already living with sight loss – and this number is set to double by 2050.
Gavin And Stacey star Joanna Page recently lent her voice to a new short story to mark the 90th anniversary of the sight-loss charity and its work.
The three-minute clip showed an ani
WALKIES: A guide dog trainer teaches a recruit in the early 1930s
mated version of puppy Flash on her journey to becoming a guide dog, with Joanna voicing a special audio version of the story created specifically for people with sight loss.
Flash, a real-life four-month-old yellow labrador, was specially named after the original 1931 guide dog.
Joanna said: “Her name carries so much history for Guide Dogs in its 90th year, and I’m delighted to help the charity tell the story of Flash and other life-changing dogs like her.”
Lara Rivans, head of volunteering at Guide Dogs, praised the charity’s volunteers saying: “They are at the heart of what we do and without them, we wouldn’t be able to help the thousands of people who use our life-changing services.
“As we look to the future, we know we need to be there for even more people with sight loss, so by supporting Guide Dogs and sponsoring a pup like Flash, you can help us change even more lives in the next 90 years.”
Flash has revolutionised my working life
Allan Caldwell, one of the original guide dog recipients