Amber Valley Housing welcomes guide dog puppy

Amber Valley Housing is proving that four legs are better than two when it comes to supporting the community.

The housing provider has raised £5,000 to fund the training of a guide dog puppy, and this week welcomed the new recruit – a black curly coated retriever named Asher after the company’s office based in Asher Lane, Ripley.

Amber Valley Housing, which owns and manages around 5,500 homes in the borough, has been raising money for the appeal over the last year.

Fundraising activities included a 100-mile classic car tour, which raised £1,800, the sale of the company’s old mobile phones and donations from suppliers.

The £5,000 will pay for Asher’s initial training by a Guide Dogs volunteer.

John Thornhill, procurement and contracts manager at Amber Valley Housing’s parent company, Futures Housing Group, led the fundraising. 

He said: “It’s great to finally meet Asher after all the hard work that was put into fundraising. Everyone at Amber Valley Housing has contributed to the appeal in some way, and Asher will really benefit a blind or partially-sighted person once her training is complete.”

Asher’s initial training and socialising will take between 11 and 14 months. She will then go to one of the Guide Dogs specialist training centres for  a period of more intensive training before being matched to a blind/partially sighted owner prior to  qualifying for her working life where she will give that person more independence and mobility.

John added: “Amber Valley Housing is committed to improving the quality of life for local people. Sponsoring a guide dog is just one example of how we achieve this in innovative ways.” 

According to the Guide Dogs, a guide dog works for as long as the dog is fit enough and happy enough to continue, this period varies depending on the dog.

Kirstie Bower, senior district fundraiser for Guide Dogs, said: “We rely solely on donations and legacies as we receive no government funding.

“Without the support of organisations such as Amber Valley Housing, we would not be able to continue giving independence to blind and visually impaired people.”