We held our official launch event for Hope in the community on Tuesday 4th June, and were joined by local councillors, partner organisations and community groups to help celebrate this exciting milestone.

Thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund, this new programme will support dog owners in our communities who may be struggling. Through community support and outreach, we hope to help more dogs and owners to stay together when mutually beneficial. The programme will also promote responsible dog ownership, and work with local partners to help tackle the root problems that lead to poor welfare and harm, for dogs and people. 

Our event began with a presentation from Hope Rescue’s founder and senior head of operations, Vanessa Waddon, who outlined the history of the charity and the work that helped to identify a need for more community support for dog owners.

Our Hope in the community programme manager, Louise Wheeler, then gave an overview of how the programme will help, and the support available.

This was followed by an interactive session to discuss some of the issues facing dog owners currently. Some of the top issues included,

·        The impact of the rising cost of living

·        The need for improved community education around dog ownership

·        Responsible dog ownership in public spaces.

Hope Rescue’s education and training manager, Daniella Gouveia, gave the final presentation which was an excellent guide to enrichment for our dogs, ensuring that they are kept stimulated and healthy. This was another interactive (and fun) session with some great ideas for using everyday household items to create enrichment activities.

Thank you to everyone who came along to the launch event and shared their ideas for community collaboration.

The event ended with guests making some ‘canine commitments’ – ideas and opportunities to get involved and share information about the Hope in the community programme.

You can read more about the programme by clicking the link below

Hope in the community

Hope in the community is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.