Thursday 17 July 2008

School Summer Fair

Well yesterday was busy but successful. I will start the story a little earlier though! Last summer I had radio 2 on in the car, they did a piece on Greyhound racing and the plight of many of these graceful dogs. The figures are staggering, thousands of young dogs killed off or dumped every year when they don't make the grade, and thousands more badly treated, then abandoned or killed when they no longer run fast enough. Of course I must say that it's not all like this, some owners love their dogs deeply and take very good care of them, but more often than not it's about money not passion.

J was so touched by this story that she couldn't shift it from her already incredibly busy head. So early February, this year, she came to me, out of the blue, and said that she wanted to give her pocket money to the greyhounds. So we had a look on the net and found Greyhound Rescue Wales (GRW). Looking at their website we discovered that for £50 you could sponsor a greyhound that needed extra love and attention, either physically or psychologically, for a year. Well J doesn't get THAT mouch pocket money, so I suggested we got her school involved to see if we could raise the money and sponsor a dog.


J and her friend made Valantine's cards and sold them at school and started to whip up some interest. She then managed to convince the Head to let us hold a fete. He agreed and she managed to organise quite an impressive event (with a little help from mum, of course). I din't tell her that I had managed to get the local newspaper interested, along with the local GRW rep and her two rescue dogs. So what a surprise she had when they all turned up at school!
In all we managed to raise a very impressive £150 for GRW and the school now sponsors 3 dogs!
Here are J & A and their friend with the dogs that came to visit.

Anyway, yesterday we had a stall at the school's summer fair and managed to raise another £40 for GRW. I'm going to hang on to it and hopefully raise some more so the school can sponsor a dog or two again next year.

I have to say, even though I am biased, that it's wonderful to see a kid so interested in helping others rather than just worrying about themselves.

6 comments:

Georgina said...

You must be very proud of such a sensitive and unsensitive child. My friend back in the YUK does work for greyhound charities and has two beautiful rescue dogs. Sadly the stories are similar in the horse racing and polo pony industries. It saddens me that I can't rescue everything. Well done you guys. Debs x

blogthatmama said...

How lovely is that. What a great child to put all of that effort in to those poor dogs, proud mum or what. I can't believe greyhounds are treated like that, I had no idea.

Little Veg Patch said...

Thats a fantastic thing to do, well done!! I adore Greyhounds and would love to rehome a rescue one day.
Just to let you know I have tagged you on my blog, you dont have to do it though x

Tim Atkinson said...

And I haven't tagged you, but I have awared you a well-desrved prize. (Actually, that's just like tagging, isn't it?)

Georgina said...

Hi, I have an award for you at my place. Debs x

Anonymous said...

Ah well done you and your family!
As the proud grandma to my daughter's retired baby and the step mother to my partner's greyhound, this sort of story always makes me feel good! Unselfish behaviour in the young - brilliant!

P.s you can see them both at www.mygreyhound.me.uk