Please note: This post was written by Highlander prior to their rebrand to FluidOne Business IT - Sheffield.
Many of us are dog lovers, or have other pets at home that we regard as one of the family, so we understand and appreciate the value that they bring into our lives. However, it’s easy to take this for granted, and that’s mainly because we’re not reliant on our animals for anything other than companionship. But there are many people out there who genuinely need 24hr support and assistance from dogs on a daily basis.
Support Dogs is a charity that trains, supports, and matches specialist assistant dogs to people with medical conditions and disabilities to help transform their quality of life. Everything from providing comfort to reduce anxiety in autistic children through to giving accurate warnings before the onset of epileptic seizures – these intelligent, brave dogs really make a life-changing difference to their clients.
Why we wanted to sponsor a Support Dog
We’ve met the Support Dogs team a few times at different networking events in and around the Yorkshire area, where we’re both based. At the last event we attended together, we were introduced to the dogs themselves and had the privilege of hearing from some of the people they were helping. The stories we were told about what the dogs are capable of and how they can assist their clients to regain their sense of independence were truly inspirational. It was a no-brainer for us – we had to sponsor them. As of June this year, we became official Support Dogs sponsors.
Highlander’s Support Dog
In celebration of the amazing things these dogs can do, we now sponsor a yellow Labrador called Freya. She’s a disability assistance dog based in Doncaster and was actually her owner’s pet before she was trained as a support dog. Now she is able to help her owner by carrying out tasks that are too challenging and sees that her owner can also become more confident and lead a more active lifestyle.
To us, like her fellow Support Dogs, Freya’s a hero. Our sponsorship ensures her training can continue, she is always well looked after, and most importantly, it allows her to make a real difference to her owner’s quality of life. We’re proud to sponsor Freya and the good that she does, and really hope she can come and visit the Highlander office soon!
Giving back
It is very important to us that we give something back, whether that’s to our local community like Support Dogs, or to different charities and worthy causes all over the UK and beyond. From the very first year that Highlander started, we have always as a team been dedicated to doing what we can for charity organisations, from sponsored runs to bake sales, fundraisers to dress-up days. The values and care that we apply to our customers always goes back into our community, too. Take a look at our other charitable work.
