Cork town to host a 5km walk to raise awareness for Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind
'It will be a lovely event, especially if the weather is fine.
'Families and dogs will be very welcome to come along and join us on the day.
'It will give people the chance to take part in a nice old walk, meet our volunteers and find out a little bit more about what the charity does,' he said.
The charity will celebrate its 50th year in operation next year and has, in its lifespan to date, provided independence and mobility for people with visual impairment and support for families of children with Autism.
Mr Bennett added that the charity is very proud of its Cork roots.
'We are known as a national charity, but we are proud to be known as a Cork-based charity.
'We are one of the few charities that would have all their main offices and everything in the county.
'We are also looking for volunteers in Macroom and parts of West Cork to help us with our fundraising campaigns,' he added.
Volunteers will be raising funds for the charity outside Dunnes Store on Saturday from 9am until 2pm.
They will also raise money in Macroom town centre on Friday from 9am to 2pm.
Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind recently announced a partnership with Munster Technological University to provide training programmes for their dogs across their six Cork and Kerry campuses, and Mr Bennett described the partnership as 'fantastic.'
'The partnership with MTU is fantastic because it gives us access to their campuses across Cork and Kerry as well.
'For dog trainers, that's gold because it allows them to work with dogs in a variety of different environments and distractions.
'You can imagine on a campus there will be cars, grass cutting, potentially other animals walking around and these distractions can only help the dogs to learn and deal with them,' he concluded.
If you want to become a 'puppy raiser' please contact: pups@guidedogs.ie or phone 0818 506 300.
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