VOLUNTEERS are urgently needed in Chandler’s Ford to help guide dogs in training.
The Guide Dogs charity is appealing for dog-lovers to sign up as volunteer fosterers – which entails having the pooches for sleepovers.
The volunteer role means looking after dogs at evenings and weekends and taking them on the ‘school run’ every day to the Bournemouth Road centre for three to five months for their training.
Southampton fosterers Prisca and Ron Mascarenhas “love being able to help” by looking after their sixth trainee guide dog, Nesta.
Prisca said: “We love being able to help a visually impaired person with their independence and freedom.
“Plus, we get more out of the dogs than we’d ever have known. They touch not just your life but those around you too.
“We’re learning all the time and because we’d never had a dog before it gives you confidence to board guide dogs.”
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Volunteering coordinator Stephie Millin added: “It’s one of our most rewarding and popular volunteering roles as it’s appealing to everyone.
“You get to have a loveable dog in your home, which will then go on to change someone’s life.”
Guide Dogs is looking for applicants within a 10-mile radius of Chandler’s Ford and who can drop their guide dog off at school between 8am and 9am each morning and collect them between 5pm and 6pm the same day.
For more information on how to apply visit: www.guidedogs.org.uk/how-you-can-help/volunteering-for-guide-dogs
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