Latest news with #GuideDogs
Times
21-06-2025
- Automotive
- Times
The new guide dog training: e-bikes, phone zombies, busy cities
Nothing upsets Laurie. With 'pavement zombies' marching towards him obliviously while tapping at their phones, with ambulance and police sirens screaming in his ears, and a speeding-but-silent e-scooter flashing across his path at 25mph, he pads safely and calmly through the chaos. Still, at least there are no robots to worry about today. Laurie is a 20-month-old labrador-golden retriever cross with a look in his eyes that could melt your heart. He's also a professional, with a job to do. He is nearing the end of his six-month training to be a guide dog, an intense process and one which has had to change a lot in the past decade, as Britain's roads and pavements have been transformed by new technology and evolving attitudes. 'We've had to adapt fast,' said Karen Brady, 35, a training and behaviour manager at the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, known as Guide Dogs, which launched in the 1930s. Their animals are now taught to cope with a host of new hazards — and delivery robots are one of the most recent. 'We've had a lot of fun with those in Cambridge,' she said. Introduced in the area in 2022, the automated vehicles trundle along the pavement and simply stop when they detect a pedestrian. Guide dogs were initially baffled, and stopped too. 'We had to teach them to treat the robot like a car that's parked on a pavement, and find a way around it,' she said. 'The makers gave us a shell to practise with.' Other innovations are much more widespread — and potentially dangerous. 'Electric vehicles are a big thing, because the dog owner can't hear them,' said Brady. 'E-scooters fly up past the dogs really quickly, really quietly. We've hired them sometimes and rode them around to get the dogs used to them.' • How Terry the guide dog puppy was bred for perfection Owners and their dogs work as a partnership, and with the human unable to perceive an almost-silent car, bicycle or scooter, the dog must be extra vigilant. The human is in charge, but the watchful dogs are trained not to move across a road if they see a danger. There are plenty more new hazards. 'Cars have got bigger, and often park on pavements — we've taught the dogs to do a lot more work, often having to go on roads so the owner can get through the space. You get e-bikes and scooters littered all over the pavement now too, which is another big thing to find a way around. Then there are mobility scooters: we get them used to those as puppies. 'And of course there are people staring at their mobile phones, not looking where they're going. We do indoor exercises in our training centre to get the dog used to them. Outside, Oxford Street is a good place to practise.' Modern life impinges in ways that the sighted might not consider. Glass lifts, increasingly common in shopping centres, can confuse dogs trained to avoid height hazards. 'Just seeing that the floor beneath them is moving up and down can be worrying for the dog,' said Brady. Shared spaces, where cycle and scooter paths are integrated with pedestrian pavements, present issues too. 'We have to familiarise the dogs with new schemes — cycle lanes, floating bus stops and so on,' said Laurie's sighted handler today, specialist trainer Wayne Townley. 'You have this real grey line of where traffic sits.' Some distractions are more traditional. This year, Guide Dogs ran a training session at Ascot to ensure the animals would not be unnerved by enormous, garish hats and fascinators. The charity said many are scared and confused by oversized headgear, which can make a familiar person look strange. London dogs have always had to get used to the Tube. Shallower lines such as the Hammersmith & City are easiest to cope with: only those with the strongest nerve can endure the high-decibel screeching of the deep Northern and Victoria lines. Laurie has taken it all on board, and is a model of calm purpose as he guides Townley, 58, through the pandemonium of London's West End. He effortlessly tacks around an approaching phone zombie, is unfazed by deafening sirens and traffic, and ignores a tempting discarded kebab. 'They're a lot more common than they used to be — it's littered with them round here on Saturday morning — but the dog must know it can only eat food when it's given to them,' said Brady. 'We call it food manners.' She said most of the public are kind and considerate around guide dogs, but often do not notice that one is near them. 'People are involved in their own worlds, expected to do emails on the way to work. The modern world is such that people are looking down a lot of the time.' There are about 3,000 working guide dogs, mainly labradors, golden retrievers or crosses of the two, which are purpose-bred. It costs £38,000 to train each dog, all of which comes from donations. Their training begins when they are 14 months old. Most will then stay with one owner until about ten years old, when they retire to a volunteer's home to become a family pet. Laurie will soon be matched with a visually impaired person on the Guide Dogs shortlist, which could be anywhere in the country: there is then another five weeks of training specialised to their needs. 'Sight loss has no regard for background,' said Townley, who has been training dogs for 36 years. 'We've had to familiarise them with visits to a church, or mosque, even to Emirates stadium for Arsenal games. A businesswoman user had to fly a lot, so we did trips through the airport and a couple of flights. Every owner, and every dog, is different. 'But I've been doing it for 36 years and it's still a privilege. You see the change it makes to people's lives, the freedom, the confidence. It's humbling.' To donate to Guide Dogs, go to
The Sun
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
EastEnders actor Timothy West's will revealed – and why his Fawlty Towers star wife Prunella Scales gets less than half
EASTENDERS star Timothy West's will has been revealed after his death last year at the age of 90 — with wife Prunella Scales set to receive less than half of his estate. West, who was married to Fawlty Towers star Prunella Scales for more than 60 years, appeared on stage, in films and on television in a host of shows including EastEnders, Coronation Street and Brass. 3 3 3 He died in November last year after suffering a traumatic brain injury three months earlier in a fall on a footpath near his home in Wandsworth, South West London. His will revealed he left an estate valued at £110,000, and he asked for donations to be made from his estate to charities supporting the arts, actors and the disabled. The remainder of his estate passes to his wife Prunella, who appeared with him in the hugely popular Great Canal Journeys show on Channel 4 where the couple explored inland waterways in a narrowboat. Prunella, was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2014, and she and Timothy often spoke about the difficulties associated with the illness on the TV canal show. Her poor health led to them leave the series in 2019. The will, which was drawn up in 2020 states £15,000 should be given to the King George V fund for Actors and Actresses, which gives financial help to elderly actors who have fallen on hard times. Another £10,000 was gifted to the Bristol Old Vic and Theatre Royal Trust, while £5,000 was donated to the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. Southwark Cathedral, near London Bridge, was also given a £10,000 donation from the actor's will as was Medecins Sans Frontieres, a charity that provides medical help to people caught up in wars or natural disasters. He gave £10,000 to the Snipe Charitable Trust, which helps with arts projects for children and asked for £20,000 to be given to his sister Patricia, who lives in Sheffield. West was best known for his roles in in EastEnders as Stan Carter, Brass as Bradley Hardacre and Coronation Street as Eric Babbage. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing Macbeth twice and King Lear four times. He was friends with Queen Camilla and attended her wedding to the future King Charles with Prunella in 2005. Following his death, his children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph released a statement saying: 'After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our darling father Timothy West died peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening. He was 90 years old. "Tim was with friends and family at the end. He leaves his wife, Prunella Scales, to whom he was married for 61 years, a sister, a daughter, two sons, seven grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren. All of us will miss him terribly."
South Wales Argus
12-06-2025
- General
- South Wales Argus
Blind Caerphilly woman raised over £5k for Guide Dogs Cymru
Sue Sims, from Caerphilly, jumped 10,000 feet from a plane to fundraise for Guide Dogs Cymru. The money she raised helped name a puppy Flora in honour of her former guide dog, who passed away in 2021. In June 2024, Sue and her husband Steve were visited by nine-month-old Flora, a yellow Labrador being raised by Guide Dogs volunteer Linda Hole in Bristol. Sue was happy to find out that Linda had also raised Wenna, her second guide dog. Sue, who has had seven guide dogs in total, said: "Meeting puppy Flora made the skydive worthwhile. "She was gorgeous and so well-behaved, giving puppy raiser Linda her full attention. "I hope she goes on to be a successful guide dog." She added that her seven guide dogs have had a huge impact on her life, saying: "Having a guide dog gives you so much confidence to get out independently and meet people. "They talk to you when you have a dog, but when you are using a cane they don't like to approach you, or don't know how." Sue Sims completed a skydive last summer to fundraise for Guide Dogs Cymru (Image: Guide Dogs Cymru) Sue and her current guide dog, Saxon, are active members of the Caerphilly fundraising group for Guide Dogs, participating in supermarket collections and talks. "We meet so many people, and we just love it," Sue said. She invites anyone interested in the cause to meet her and Saxon at upcoming collections at Tesco in Talbot Green on Friday and Saturday, June 13 and 14, or Asda in Caerphilly on Saturday, June 21. To find out more about volunteering for Guide Dogs, visit
South Wales Argus
09-06-2025
- General
- South Wales Argus
Pontllanfraith couple win award for raising guide dog pups
Peter and Sue Simms, from Pontllanfraith, were presented with the Princess Alexandra Award for Lifetime Achievement by Guide Dogs Cymru at a ceremony in Cardiff to mark Volunteers' Week. The couple took in their first guide dog puppy 25 years ago and have continued to foster and care for puppies, many of whom have gone on to become successful guide dogs. Mr Simms said: "We got involved with Guide Dogs two years after our own dog died. "We missed having a dog but were reluctant to get another pet, so this was an opportunity to do something different." The couple are currently looking after black Labrador cross German Shepherd Jenna, who is 14 months old. She accompanied them to the awards ceremony, where they were praised for their compassion, patience and generosity in helping guide dog puppies to thrive. They were presented with their award by Guide Dogs' chief executive, Andrew Lennox, who said: "They have proved themselves to be truly remarkable, kind individuals." The couple say they have learned how smart the dogs are by the speed at which they develop.
Glasgow Times
05-06-2025
- Business
- Glasgow Times
Specsavers Newlands in Glasgow raises £250 for charities
Specsavers Newlands, which is locally owned and operated, participated in several fundraising activities to support local causes. The team recently undertook a sponsored indoor cycle to Edinburgh, raising nearly £90 for charity Guide Dogs. They also took part in 'Wear a Hat Day' for Brain Tumour Research, collecting £142. Specsavers Newlands donated 47 meals worth of food to Glasgow SW Food Bank (Image: Specsavers) As part of their commitment to the community, a significant donation was made to the Glasgow SW Foodbank. A selection of essential goods, including tinned meat, pasta, cereal, and coffee, were donated. Read more: Rangers fans at Ibrox divided over 'underwhelming' new manager Russell Martin Update after death of woman in Glasgow's West End 'Five painful weeks': Family organises new search for missing teen Cole Cooper According to volunteers, this amounted to the equivalent of 47 meals. The store also donated vouchers, offering discounts on glasses to those who use the food bank. Scott Craig, community champion at Specsavers Newlands, said: "It's been incredibly rewarding to see the team come together to support such a wide range of causes, from our indoor cycle challenge for Guide Dogs to raising awareness on Wear a Hat Day for Brain Tumour Research. "We are also incredibly proud to support Glasgow SW Foodbank by playing a small part to help those most in need. "Access to essential items like food and vision care is so important, and we hope our donation can help make a meaningful difference in our community. "We look forward to continuing our support in the future, whether it's through further donations or fundraising efforts, to help support these vital services for as long as they're needed." Specsavers Newlands, located within the Morrisons supermarket on Newlandsfield Road, is open seven days a week.
