Rally drivers Jayne Auden and Amanda Cornforth raised a total of £2,330.50p for the Hearing Dogs for Deaf People charity through their Hear and Now fundraising project.
Auden, from Stockport, and Cornforth, from Thirsk, competed on the Jim Clark National Rally together in May to raise money for Hearing Dogs and promote deaf awareness, with Auden herself being hard of hearing.
Despite not making it to the finish of the rally after they slid off the road and ended up wedged in a hedge, the project has been highly successful as they raised a substantial amount for the charity. £2,500 gives shared sponsorship of a hearing dog and all the money raised by Hear and Now went directly to the cause with Auden and Cornforth paying their own entry fee and funding their expenses for the rally themselves.
Auden, 25, said: “We’re really pleased with the amount of money we’ve raised for Hearing Dogs. The project has gone well and we have achieved what we wanted to by also making people more aware of the existence of the charity. The money will go towards the shared sponsorship of a hearing dog and help the charity to continue their valuable work.
“We’d like to thank everyone who sponsored us and donated money to the charity, we really appreciate their generosity and kindness. We’d also like to thank everyone who helped us out and supported us on the actual rally as well.”
A spokesperson for Hearing Dogs said: “Jayne and Amanda’s fundraising efforts have been fantastic, and we are very grateful for their tremendous commitment to help us train more hearing dogs for deaf people.”
During the Jim Clark Rally weekend, volunteers, recipients and workers for Hearing Dogs held a stand with collection buckets at the start and finish ramp in Kelso town centre, where they received a positive response from the public and rally fans, as they managed to raise £130, which is included in the total amount, and receive plenty of interest in the charity.
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People was set up in 1982 and they take dogs from rescue centres, which they then train to alert deaf people to specific sounds. To date they have placed nearly 1,400 hearing dogs throughout England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands, changing the lives of many people.
Hearing Dogs receives no government funding and relies solely on the generosity of individuals and organisations in order to keep helping deaf people and unwanted dogs. More than half a million people have profound or severe hearing loss and could potentially benefit from having a hearing dog.
www.hearingdogs.org.uk
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