Joint charity appeal fetches £11,000 for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People

The former Mayor of Cheshire East Council and Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service have presented a whopping £11,000 to Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.

Councillor Margaret Simon spent 2009/2010 raising money for the cause as well as Action Duchenne, a charity in aid of a little known form of muscular dystrophy.

The money was raised in partnership with Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service, which added £4,000 to Cllr Simon’s £7,000 fundraising total. The fire service’s fundraising was spearheaded by staff member Judi Jennings.

The grand total was presented to the charity after numerous activities, collections, a coffee morning in the Mayor’s Parlour and a Cheshire East ball. A fire cadet unit from Crewe fire station also joined in by holding a bag packing day in a local supermarket.

Cllr Simon’s theme for the Mayoral year was ‘working together to help to give people a better quality of life, especially those less fortunate than ourselves’.

Cllr Simon, who is a fire authority member, said: “Having a dog is a wonderful way of giving somebody with hearing problems the confidence to live a fairly normal life. The bond between a dog and its owner is very precious

“If an alarm clock goes off, the dog can tell them it is time to get up and they alert them if a smoke alarm goes off or a doorbell rings. These are simple things in life that many of us would take for granted but hearing dogs can help their owners to get through daily life.”

The money raised has helped for two dogs, Pabby and Annie, to be trained to take care of their new owners.

Mark Cashin, deputy chief fire officer at Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service, said: “We are really pleased to be able to help this charity. The two hearing dogs we have bought, together with Cllr Simon, will make a big difference to the lives of their handlers.

“There was a core section of staff who worked tirelessly to raise this money after a talk to our work placed Women’s Institute (WI). A handler spoke of an incident when her hearing dog alerted her to a smoke alarm sounding in her home and then led her to safety and the seed was sown for us to help.

“I believe the two dogs are settled in their new homes and working brilliantly for their handlers, which makes us extremely proud.”