School walkies for guide dogs in Kingswinford
Students at a Dudley special school took part in a sponsored walk to raise funds for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.
The Brier School, in Kingswinford, takes part in the walk every year to raise money to support a guide dog.
The sixth annual event was held at the school this week and they were joined on the walk by the latest guide dog Russ.
In the last five events, the school has raised more than £2,000 – and staff were hoping they could do the same with their latest walk.
So far, the Brier School has raised £10,000 to support the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.
Carol Millward, high level teaching assistant and event organiser at the Brier School, said: “This is our sixth guide dog walk. Five years ago, we decided to raise money for the Guides Dogs for the Blind Association as we had a visually impaired pupil in class and it took off from there, really.
“We have 156 pupils at our school and they range in ages from five years to 16 years.
“The first year we did the walk we raised more than £2,000 and every year we have managed to do that again. We have a puppy every year, the first one was named Brier after the school and our latest puppy is Russ, who joined us on the walk.” She added: “All the children at the school took part, even those in wheelchairs. They walked for as long as they could, some for 10 minutes, others for more than half an hour.
“The children loved the event and they love having the dogs coming in.
“I think the reason we have managed to raise so much money every year is because the parents and children can see where the money is going. It is a very worthy cause.”
