Through creating special partnerships between assistance dogs and people with physical disabilities, Dogs for the Disabled has made a real difference not just to people with disabilities in Oxfordshire, but to hundreds of people living with disabilities in the UK.

To date, over 575 incredible life-changing partnerships have been formed.

Dogs help with practical tasks that most people may take for granted, such as picking up dropped items and opening and closing doors. They provide independence, companionship and a confidence boost to enable people with disabilities to live life as they want, without the need to rely on carers.

Recently we’ve helped families who have children with autism to overcome challenges faced as a result of their child’s condition.

One mother from Shenington whose child has autism explains the incredible difference Harmony (an autism assistance dog) makes: “We can now enjoy family outings as Harmony calms my son down when he’s stressed - she prevents meltdowns.”

This amazing work would not be possible without the charity’s army of volunteers and the kind generosity of the public, as Dogs for the Disabled receives no government funding.

Volunteers help with a wide range of activities from fundraising events, temporarily boarding dogs in training, to socialising puppies and supporting the implementation of our aftercare scheme.

Dogs for the Disabled is very grateful for all the fundraising efforts of all its supporter groups. The Banbury supporter group raised over £15,000 in 2011 by organising events such as supermarket and garden centre collections.

Start 2012 on the right foot - there are hundreds more people that the charity could help. You can discover our fun and quirky fundraising initiatives on our website. And if you have spare time (one or two hours per week) and you’d like to be a valued member of a team that makes a real difference, either by helping at tin collections or boarding one of our puppies temporarily, visit: www.dogsforthedisabled.org/support-us or telephone 01295 252600.