"Duke taught me to want to live again:" Hart woman with MS champions dog charity during Volunteers Week
Dogs for Good trains and provides dogs to help people with disabilities
A woman from Hook is championing a charity which she says has done so much for her, she now volunteers for them herself.
Jacqui Grawn gives talks to raise support for for Dogs for Good which trains and provides dogs to help people with a wide range of disabilities including autism, physical and learning disabilities live more independently.
The 52 year old has secondary progressive Multiple Sclerosis, and has had an assistance labrador from the charity, called Duke, since 2016.
During Volunteers Week (1-7 June) she describes how Duke has changed her life, and that of her husband David, for the better:
"When I became a wheelchair user I was a prisoner in our home and my mental health just went downhill. I couldn't go out and I didn't want people to look at me.
"Duke taught me to want to live again. Now when I'm out I love telling people about everything he does for me and they are always amazed.
"I've done talks about Dogs for Good for a few years and wanted to continue through the pandemic so I decided to do online video calls with David.
"Sometimes when my speech begins to slur during a call David takes over, so to recipients it seems seamless.
"It's important for both of us to give something back to Dogs for Good because they have done so much for us both and helped me to retain my independent for longer."
David said: "When we first met Jacqui was extremely outgoing and did all sorts of things.
"When you can see the life of the person you love falling apart piece by piece it's terrible. But as soon as Duke was paired with Jacqui the life started to come back into her face. It was like getting my wife back and that's all down to our furry little friend.
"Dogs for Good is just as important to me as it is for Jacqui because they've lifted so much pressure from my shoulders. I'll be forever grateful for what they have done for us and I wanted to give something back.
"People seem to react strongly to our story, one person said we should have warned them they'd need to have some tissues handy!
"If our talks encourage people to support the charity in some way either by fundraising or volunteering or just by something as simple as buying a car sticker we'd be delighted."
This Volunteers Week, the charity is saying thank you to their volunteers who fundraise, look after and transport dogs.
Liz Stone, Dogs for Good Volunteer Coordinator, said:
"We have volunteers who go out in all sorts of weathers to fundraise for us, people who transport dogs or resources by driving for us and of course all the volunteers who socialise puppies or board dogs in training and other Dogs for Good dogs and provide them with a loving home.
"Quite simply, our work would not be possible without their support and in the last twelve months so many of our volunteers have had to learn new skills or have been asked to work in different ways because of the pandemic, so this Volunteers Week, we want to say a huge thank you to them for everything they do."
For more information visit: dogsforgood.org