On Tuesday June 7 we welcomed three guests, Merleen Watson our speaker, Grace her hearing dog and Helen who was spending the day with Merleen and Grace for their annual assessment.

Merleen came to talk about Hearing dogs and the charity which supports them. She was a very enthusiastic speaker and Grace behaved beautifully. The charity was officially recognised in 1982.

The Charity breeds its own dogs with reputable breeders. the puppies are socialised for 14-16 months attending puppy classes and being introduced to many situations.

The waiting time for a Hearing dog is 18 months.

The benefits of Hearing Dogs give many people who have felt isolated the confidence to go out, join clubs talk about their dog and also gain independence which they may have lost.

The dogs are working when they have their coat and harness on. For those of you who, like us about “play time” yes they get up to two hours a day.

Marleen demonstrated a couple of noises that Grace should respond to, the first the Doorbell and the second the Smoke or Fire Alarm. They are trained to be persistent if their handler doesn’t respond.

Helen who accompanied Merleen is a Senior Partnership Instructor who supports the recipient and dog all the time. She covers a large area and her youngest recipient is 13 and the oldest 94 and on their second dog.

At present 1in 6 of the population have hearing impairment and they speculate that by 2030 that will be 1in 5 Why you may wonder, well if any of the young people are reading this it will be due to headphones and loud music straight into their ears.!!

We all enjoyed hearing Merleen and meeting Grace.

The meeting in July will take the form of a quiz and maybe a surprise with refreshments. The Guild will not meet at Civic Centre in August but will reconvene on September 6 when our speaker will be Margaret Cooper who will talk about the Village Nurse/Midwife before the NHS.

We welcome new members. please contact Marian Coulton 01386 550177 for further information.

MARIAN COULTON