£15,000 Raised for Guide Dogs for the Blind

Morris Leisure has contributed to raising £15,000 for Guide Dogs for the Blind by organising a series of events and activities.

Morris Leisure, in partnership with sister companies Morris Lubricants and GB Lubricants, are delighted with the total, having originally set themselves a £10,000 target.

The companies signed up for one of the Guide Dogs for the Blind’s ‘Learn’ packages, which involves adopting and naming a guide dog puppy and funding its two-year programme of training and development. The name chosen for the companies’ adopted guide dog is Morris.

Sharne Kirkwood, corporate partnerships executive at Guide Dogs for the Blind, thanked the three companies for their “amazing support”.

“Their fundraising will pay for the first two years of training for a guide dog puppy, aptly named Morris,” she said. “£10,000 will go to support Morris from birth, throughout his first year with his puppy walking family, exploring the world and then going on to train and qualify as a life-changing guide dog in his second year.

“The other £5,000 will support the equipment Morris will need, such as the iconic white harness as well as the matching process and final qualification training with a person who is blind or partially sighted.

“It is an incredible journey for all our guide dogs and our service users. The three companies have helped to change someone’s life.”

Edward Goddard, managing director of Morris Leisure, said: “It is great that we have managed to raise all this money for such a worthy cause. All our parks have had fun raising money and thanks go our customers and staff for their support.

“There are almost two million people in the UK who are living with sight loss, which has a significant impact on their daily lives. Many of these people rarely leave their homes alone, which means they can sometimes lead lonely, isolated lives.

“If the money we have raised can help to prevent at least one person from being left out of life, then all our efforts will all have been worthwhile.”

Morris Leisure’s touring and holiday home parks all contributed to the final total by holding events and activities. One of the most popular events was the switching on the Christmas lights display at Oxon Hall Touring Park and Oxon Pool Holiday Home Park in Shrewsbury.

Fundraising contributions by the partners included Morris Lubricants’ executive chairman Andrew Goddard climbing Mount Snowdon blindfolded and GB Lubricants’ employee Paul Bambra running the Simplyhealth Great North Run last September.