The Nottingham Guide Dogs centre has expanded and is seeking more volunteers to help train the trainee guide dogs. The sight loss charity has opened a bigger dog training centre, located in Phoenix Business Park, near Bulwell.
The extension of the centre means that an extra 30 guide dogs can be trained in the city each year. It is now the charity’s second largest dog training site in the Midlands.
The charity is seeking more volunteers in Nottingham to help the trainee guide dogs. The volunteers would be a ‘volunteer fosterer’ and would provide the dogs with a temporary home.
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A volunteer fosterer would look after a trainee guide dog on evenings and weekends. They would need to be able to drop them off on weekday mornings at the centre for training sessions and collect them again each evening.
The charity, Guide Dogs, covers the cost of all the food, veterinary care and equipment required for each dog. It also provides volunteers with full training and support.
Graham Kensett, head of canine assisted services for Guide Dogs in the Midlands, said: “We’re very excited to launch our new training facility in Nottingham, which will enable us to train more guide dogs in the city and support more people with sight loss. Now that we have more dogs in the area, we urgently need more volunteers who could look after our four-legged recruits on evenings and weekends when they are taking time out from training.
“This is a great opportunity for an individual or a family to care for a dog, on a temporary basis, with all the costs covered by us as a charity. After spending a few months with you, each dog will then move on to the next stage of their training, before hopefully becoming a working guide dog by the age of two.”
Volunteer fosterers usually care for dogs between 14 and 24 months of age. The dogs will train to help those with sight loss.
Graham added: “This is a rewarding volunteering role, suitable for anyone aged 18 or over and we also welcome applications from people who have other pets at home. If you’re from Nottingham or the surrounding area and think you could support us, please do get in touch.”
Dogs would be required to be dropped off at the centre from 8am and collected by 6pm. Contact volunteering co-ordinator Melanie Brown via volunteermidlands@guidedogs.org.uk or call 0800 781 1444 if you can provide a loving, temporary home for a trainee guide dog in Nottingham.
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