Guide Dogs Cymru

An invitation to meet Guide Dogs in Gwent brought back happy memories for local woman Coral Rowlands Blandford.

Mrs Blandford, who is in her 90s, attended our Legacy Reception Day at Monmouthshire Golf Club and revealed how she had been inspired to support Guide Dogs as a teenager.

“In October 1951, while I was head girl at Larkfield Grammar School in Chepstow, the morning assembly was taken by the headmaster, Colonel JHE Webb,” Mrs Blandford recalled. “He mentioned the plight of an airman who had been blinded while crash-landing to avoid a school playground.

“This story captured my imagination and I felt that we as a school should do something about the situation. Colonel Webb was in full agreement when I stood up and said: ‘We will buy him a guide dog!’

“I remember one of the first contributions to the fund was a large white £5 note from my uncle in Wembley. This was quite an event since notes of this value were not often seen in circulation at this period. From October 1951 until April 1952, the children of the school did odd jobs, held concerts, collected reams of waste paper which was sorted in the old air raid shelter, picked and sold blackberries, held beetle drives and ran raffles until we raised the magic figure of £180 to pay for the dog’s training.

“Eventually the dog, an 11-month-old Labrador, came to school. I had the privilege of leading the dog up the school drive, which was lined either side by the cheering pupils of Larkfield. He was given the appropriate name of Lark and his photograph hung in the school hall for many years.”

Ruth Evans, Community Fundraising Manager for Guide Dogs, said: “It was a real privilege to meet Mrs Blandford and hear her memories. We’d love to know how much the £180 the pupils raised 75 years ago would be worth today! We also introduced her to Gwent’s newest guide dog owner, Tony Broom. Like Lark, his dog Major is part labrador and was named by school pupils, so the tradition continues.”

To find out more about naming a guide dog puppy, please visit this link: www.guidedogs.org.uk/nameapuppy

Pic 1: Coral Blandford meeting Tony Broom and guide dog Major in Monmouthshire Golf Club
Pic 2: Guide dog Lark visiting pupils at Larkfield Grammar School in 1952

Happy Tongue Out Tuesday! Training dog Aster just loves a trip to Parc Cefn Onn with dog wellbeing technicians Rhy and Leah, where she can relax and enjoy some off-lead exercise. Our photo shows her posing with her tongue out on a park bench. Fellow trainee Kyla is standing on the ground in front of the bench, and there is a backdrop of bright pink roses.

Remember Walter, the gorgeous golden retriever trained in Cardiff by Sian Jones? He’s in the news today as his owner, Oliver Perry, shares the story of how he lost his sight – and how Walter has restored his independence.

Oliver, who’s 33 and from Glynneath, had a motorcycle crash that led to a stroke, a traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, and complete blindness and deafness on his left side. He was driving home from his job at a Covid-19 testing site in July 2021 when the crash happened, and the next thing he remembers is waking up in hospital more than two weeks later with wife Lucy and her mother at his bedside.

He stayed in hospital for over four months, where he underwent reconstructive surgeries and physiotherapy to learn to walk again. But despite making progress with his mobility, he was constantly back and forth to the hospital due to regularly falling over. He said: "I was struggling to get about and I was always bumping into things. I was falling off kerbs and steps, especially on my left-hand side. I couldn't see anything coming, so I'd walk across the road, not seeing a car coming from my left."

Oliver reached out to Guide Dogs and was paired with Walter from our Sponsor a Puppy scheme. He said: "Walter comes with me everywhere I go. I've had absolutely zero trips because Walt was always there to stop me from falling. But he's not just my eyes, he's my support dog too."

Oliver said his first impression of Walter, was that he was "very boisterous" and "a bit cheeky", adding: "He's funny, he likes to do this thing that we call wormy worms, where he rolls onto his back and he just wriggles back and forth. He's absolutely gorgeous, but one time it took us three-and-a-half hours to do a weekly shop because of everyone stopping to say hello to him. He just loves people."

With help from Walter, Oliver can meet up with friends, go bowling and play pool, or take himself grocery shopping or for breakfast.
Oliver said: "Guide dogs change people's lives. Walter isn't just my guide – he's my left eye, my best friend, and my freedom."

To find out more about Guide Dogs' Sponsor a Puppy, please visit this link: www.guidedogs.org.uk/puppy

pic: Oliver Perry of Glynneath walks along a cluttered pavement guided by golden retriever guide dog Walter