A WESTBURY volunteer fundraiser for the Guide Dogs charity has pledged to name her next sponsored puppy after the late Captain Sir Tom Moore.
Hilary Reed has raised thousands of pounds for the charity and is taking part in their ‘Name a Puppy’ scheme, where sponsors can choose the name of a future guide dog pup.
On her choice of name, Hilary said naming the puppy after Captain Tom was a fitting tribute.
“He touched the nation and he seemed like the grandfather I never had! I just thought it would be quite nice to name a puppy after him as a tribute.”
Hilary – a former winner of the White Horse News Person of the Year award – is part of her local Guide Dogs fundraising group, but also raises funds as an individual. On top of this, Hilary has volunteered for Guide Dogs since 1982 and over the years she has raised over 50 guide dog puppies. This is where the puppies live with a volunteer while they do their basic training, before they go off to training school when they’re a little bit older.
Despite the challenges of lockdown, Hilary’s fundraising is still on target.
She explained, “Over the summer in 2020 we had a charity shop in Trowbridge that raised £4,300. At this event we also received a very generous anonymous donation. At Christmas we attended some of the local markets, but mostly I’ve been selling things online.
“I also put books and other items on my wall outside, alongside the Guide Dogs collection box where people can make a donation if they’d like. I’ve had people knock on the door and hand me a £10 note and say they didn’t want anything from the wall, but wanted to give a donation. That’s the kind of fundraising I enjoy most — meeting and talking to my local community.”
Hilary is part of the local Westbury & Warminster Guide Dogs fundraising group which was founded in 1978. Over the last 41 years, the group has raised almost £600,000 for Guide Dogs.
“The last few years we’ve reached around £20,000 – £25,000 per year and I thought in 2020 we would see a real drop. But the anonymous donation actually saw us up to £30,000, which was incredibly fortunate,” she said.
Hilary is about halfway to her latest fundraising goal.
“I’ve currently got about £2,500 in my Name a Puppy pot and I’d like to get to £5,000,” she said.
A guide dog puppy will be chosen to be named after Hilary’s fundraiser is complete. While the dog will be called Tom day to day, his paperwork will read Captain Tom.
You can support Hilary’s fundraiser via her JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hilary-reed
Find out more about Guide Dogs Name a Puppy scheme and volunteering opportunities on their website, or call Guide Dogs on 0800 781 1444.
