Walsall couple celebrate £60,000 fundraising milestone by sponsoring and naming hearing dog puppy ‘Pickles’
A Walsall couple, Hilary and John Ranford, have become the proud sponsors of a Hearing Dog puppy, who they have exclusively named ‘Pickles’ after raising an incredible £60,000 for the charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. The puppy was so-called because of the couple’s unique method of fundraising - selling homemade pickles.
John and Hilary’s fundraising journey began after Hilary’s mother sadly passed away and left a gift to the charity in her Will. Hilary explains: “It was her gift that inspired us to get involved. When we spotted a leaflet from Hearing Dogs in our local vets, that gave us the idea of remembering her by raising funds for the charity.”
In 2005, the couple began taking stalls throughout the year at local fairs, at the Lichfield Food Festival and also at the May Day and Christmas Fairs in Yateley, Hampshire, where Hilary’s sister lives, all of which proved very fruitful in terms of people’s generosity and their support for the charity.
The couple devised a fun, ‘lucky dip’ style game, in which every member of the family could pay £1 and be rewarded with a mystery gift bag, containing different items, including toiletries, confectionery, screwdrivers and paintbrushes. John and Hilary generously buy most of the prizes themselves, but their friends also rise to the challenge, not only helping on the stalls, but very often donating gifts.
By 2009, the stalls were so successful that the couple had raised £10,000 for Hearing Dogs and were given the chance by the charity to exclusively name one of the litters born that year. As their fundraising continued, they went on to adopt a further four puppies – all named after members of their own family – Peggy, Rosie, Jonty and Hidi.
John’s passion for pickling also plays a significant role in their fundraising. Each autumn, he spends hours making and selling pickled onions, beetroot and cabbage to support the charity, as Hilary explains, “Between September and November each year, John buys kilos and kilos of onions and makes almost 400 jars of pickles! We buy all the onions, and the pickled beetroot and cabbage is often donated from friends’ allotments. I don’t get involved – I can’t stand the smell of pickled onions!”
Thanks to their dedication to fundraising, John and Hilary were delighted recently to reach a remarkable £60,000 milestone. And when the time came to name their next puppy, there was only one possible name – Pickles!
Born in October, Pickles is a blue roan Cocker Spaniel. One of eight puppies, he has four sisters and three brothers. John and Hilary will be able to follow Pickles’ training journey to the point where he becomes a life-changing companion to a deaf adult or child.
“We’re so proud of everything we’ve achieved for Hearing Dogs”, said John. “And knowing that our fundraising has played a part in helping train Pickles to become a life- changing hearing dog for a deaf person, makes it all worthwhile.”
Community Fundraising Manager for the Midlands, Vicky Ryan, described John and Hilary’s dedication to fundraising for the charity as ‘truly inspirational’, saying, “The fantastic sum they have raised of £60,000 will go a long way to helping us continue our life-changing work. We are extremely grateful for their unwavering support.”
