BMRA is delighted to announce that its members have helped to raise over £13,000 for its 2024 President’s Charity, Guide Dogs.

The money, raised through a combination of raffle entries, silent auction bids and competition prize donations will, in part, be used to help train a guide dog for its first year, with its name being chosen from a shortlist by BMRA members.

As well as gifting a name, BMRA will receive a photo and birth certificate when their puppy is born, quarterly personal ‘pupdates’, with photos as their pup grows and develops, and they will have the chance to meet their puppy in person too.

Susie Burrage, President of the BMRA said: “I am thrilled with the amount raised by our generous members, and that we can name a dog. We were delighted to welcome Martine Clarke with her Guide Dog, Willow, and Ruth Norman from Guide Dogs to whom we presented the cheque and meet fellow Guide Dogs’ representatives at BMRA events throughout the last year and hear firsthand about the important work that the charity does.

“Since I have been President of the BMRA, we have raised over £115,000 for various charities. We are so grateful to members that we can continue to annually support worthwhile causes across the UK, demonstrating what a generous industry we are!”

Mandy Loveder, local Community Fundraising Relationship Manager for Guide Dogs, said: “It has been a delight to work alongside Kate and the amazing members of BMRA, and we are very grateful for their help in raising such a large sum of money that will go towards helping people with sight loss across the UK.

“As a charity, we rely almost entirely on public donations to keep our life-changing services running, so support from organisations such as BMRA is vital.

 “We look forward to hearing the puppy name the members choose and introducing him, or her, to everyone at BMRA.”

Guide Dogs has trained over 37,500 guide dogs. That is more than one new guide dog every day since the charity’s first guide dog partnerships were created in 1931.

It costs the charity £38,110 to train a guide dog, transforming them from a pup into a partnership. 

You can name your own future guide dog via the charity’s name a puppy scheme.

The final total was £13,282.95.