Guide Dog Facts
Name: The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association; known as Guide Dogs
(note: if abbreviating The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, please
use ‘Guide Dogs’ rather than GDBA).
Established: 1934 – (the fiirst four guide dog partnerships
qualifying three years earlier in 1931, and we celebrated 75 years of
guide dogs in the UK in 2006).
Total staff: 800 (approx.) in 28 District Teams, four Guide Dog Training
Schools in locations around the UK, and a Head Office.
Volunteers: 10,000+
Our mission: Our mission is to provide guide dogs and
other mobility services that increase the independence and dignity of
blind and partially-sighted people. We campaign for improved rehabilitation
services and unhindered acess for all blind and partially-sighted people.
Our vision: The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association
wants a world in which all blind and partially-sighted people enjoy
the same rights, opportunities and responsibilities as everyone else.
What does a guide dog do?
A guide dog is trained to guide its owner in a straight line unless
told otherwise, avoiding obstacles. It will stop at kerbs and steps,
find doors, crossings and places which are visited regularly; it will
guide its owner across the road but cannot decide where and when to
cross safely which is the responsibility of the owner.
Our activities and other key facts:
Guide Dogs is the world-leader in the breeding and training of guide
dogs.
There are currently around 4,600 working guide dogs in the UK, providing
their visually-impaired owners with life changing independence, freedom
and mobility.
The lives of over 26,000 visually impaired people have
been transformed by guide dogs.
Guide Dogs receives no government funding, and so relies entirely upon
the generosity of the public, companies and other organisations, to
continue bringing freedom, confidence and independence to visually-impaired
people.
It costs £10 per day to breed, train and support each guide dog – the
lifetime cost of a guide dog is £35,000.
The cost of a guide dog to its new owner is a nominal
50p to ensure that no-one is prevented from having one by lack of funds.
The working life of a guide dog is about six years,
and a guide dog owner could have six or seven dogs during their lifetime.
We campaign on a number of key issues on behalf of
blind and partially sighted people, ensuring that guide dog owners receive
the same treatment as everyone else and lead the fullest and most independent
lives possible. Some of our campaigns include;
Access for All, to give guide dog owners the same access
to services such as supermarkets, restaurants and transport;
Fireworks to increase public awareness of the restrictions
on using fireworks and the harmful effects they can have for working
animals;
Re-think Rehab to improve rehabilitation services for blind and partially
sighted people;
Safer Streets to raise public awareness of the dangers
of obstacles and hazards on the streets for guide dog owners;
Shared surfaces where traditional kerbs are removed and thus priority
of movement across a road has to be determined by eye contact – immediately
blind and partially sighted people are put in danger.
In brief – from puppy to guide dog
Volunteer puppy walkers introduce the six week old pups to the sights,
sounds and smells of a world in which they will play such an important
part.
After just over a year, the young dogs start their formal training with
a guide dog trainer, where they learn the skills needed to guide a blind
or partially-sighted person. The training is rigorous – it has to be
– and not all the young dogs make the grade.
Those that do are matched to their visually-impaired
owner by a Guide Dog Mobility Instructor before the partnership spends
three weeks of intensive training with Guide Dogs’ specialist staff.
If they qualify together, then they are ready to face new everyday challenges – the bond between a guide dog and their visually impaired owner has begun, giving them life-changing freedom, independence and confidence.
