An Oxfordshire branch of a little-known charity finished 2007 by chalking up a landmark in fundraising.

Broadcaster Esther Rantzen visited the annual Christmas bazaar of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People to present a plaque to the county's branch chairman Christine Wilkinson, of Witney, for reaching £250,000.

The sum has been achieved over the past 16 years and is largely down to a small group of six dedicated volunteers.

Witney and surrounding west Oxfordshire villages form the heartland of the charity.

One of its two branch founders, Heather Shute of Milton-under-Wychwood, has already picked up an award for volunteer of the year in 2005.

Another volunteer, 84-year-old Antony Sabin, from Great Rollright, has raised £40,000 through sponsored walks.

Mr Sabin takes his own hearing dog Branson with him on walks all over the country. His next planned excursion is to walk the Shakespeare Way from Stratford-on-Avon to The Globe theatre in London.

Ms Shute said: "Nowhere else in the country, apart from Hertfordshire, raises as much money as us and, although we are a small group, we are always looking for new ideas.

"Some of them are crazy, like one I dreamed up for a Canine IQ test which proved quite popular, with dogs having to use their intelligence to get to the treats."

Ms Shute started the branch in 1991 with Joyce Leonard, who lives in Hailey and has her own hearing dog.

"I am not deaf," she says, "but the idea came to me on a day out at Coventry cathedral. There were hundreds of deaf people there who were not singing but using sign language as the organ played. I was staggered.

"Most people think of guide dogs for the blind and we are still relatively unknown, so we have to make an impact."

There are now seven hearing dogs for people in the Witney area and 20 in the county. Nationally, the charity has trained about 1,500 dogs since it started in 1982.

The branch committee has never consisted of more than six people, backed by about 30 branch members.

And it's not resting on its laurels - the team is already organising the 2008 Pet Dog Show and charity ball, as well as jumble sales, street collections, stalls and concerts to raise money to train dogs.

Ms Shute, who last year sold home-made dog biscuits using donated sacks of flour from Matthews mill at Shipton-under-Wychwood, is also searching for new ideas.