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CHARITY

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CHARITY

The National Property Draw are delighted to announce we will be donating all funds from the charity element raised across all categories in Draw One to Support Dogs. They are a great charity and we are delighted to assist a charity that has the drive and enthusiasm to help people as well as being passionate about retraining rescue dogs who deserve a second chance. Support Dogs is an ambitious charity, striving to grow significantly, so they can meet the increased demand for autism, seizure alert and disability dogs along with training more partnerships each year, their services are in huge demand and they are dedicated and committed to providing support across their three programs.

This assistance will enable the charity to fulfil their ambition to purchase larger premises so they can create a fit for purpose national training centre in Yorkshire, this will provide the facilities to allow them to train more dogs and fulfil the increased demand for support dogs in the UK which currently receives around 4000 applications from people in need each year.

Support Dogs is a registered national charity dedicated to increasing independence and quality of life for people with various medical conditions. They provide, train and support specialist assistance dogs to achieve this.

Support Dogs are one of the founder members of Assistance Dogs UK. ADUK provides a kite-mark of excellence in assistance dog training. All ADUK dogs adhere to the highest training and welfare standards as set out by Assistance Dogs International and the International Guide Dogs Federation.

You can visit the Support Dogs website at www.supportdogs.org.uk

Iggy is an autism assistance dog providing life-changing support to his young owner. He is a yellow Labrador and his birthday is 6th April. Iggy is a gentle dog which makes him the perfect autism assistance dog. Nothing fazes him, and he helps his owner get the most out of life, while also keeping him safe. He also loves his play time, exploring the parks near his home and chasing sticks

Luna is a disability assistance dog providing life-changing support to her owner in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. She is a red and white border collie. Luna loves to swim especially in the lakes and reservoirs near her home in Sheffield. She even has a paddling pool in the garden!

Stanley is a seizure alert dog providing life-changing support to his owner in Gloucester. He is a black Labrador. Stanley likes to play in the garden especially when his family are trying to water the plants, when he leaps in the way of the hose! At the end of each day, he loves nothing more than cuddling up with his owner and his family.

Digby is a disability assistance dog providing life-changing support to his owner in Nottinghamshire. He is a Dalmatian and loves exploring beaches, parks and woods is Digby's favourite thing to do. You will usually find him running around and playing although he also loves curling up on his bed and having a sleep!

Abbout Support Dog

Support Dogs is a charity dedicated to improving the lives of children and adults living with some of the most challenging medical conditions. It trains specialist assistance dogs to achieve this. Unusually for an assistance dog charity, many of those they train come to them from rescue centres or as unwanted pets. They are champions of the second chance and are proud of their work not just improving the lives of their clients, but also the lives of many dogs who they help reach their potential

The charity runs three main programmes of support:

Epilepsy Seizure Alert Programme

Epilepsy is the most common neurological illness with more than 600,000 cases in the UK. They train epilepsy seizure alert dogs to provide a 100% reliable warning up to 50 minutes in advance of an epileptic seizure, providing safety and independence. They are the only charity in the UK providing this service.

Autism Assistance Programme

Autism Assistance Dogs are trained to provide safety and to facilitate a more independent and socially inclusive life for both the child with autism and their family. Their clients are children with autism, who are often unable to communicate or express their feelings in a way that is understood by others. They have little sense of danger or of the consequences of their actions. The Autism assistance dogs help with all aspects of this leading to better life for the child and the family as a whole.

Disability Assistance Programme

Disability assistance dogs are trained to improve independence for people whose physical disability significantly reduces their quality of life. Support Dogs work with clients whose conditions include MS, cerebral palsy, fibromyalgia and spinal cord injury. They specialise in training a client’s own pet dog to provide this support. This includes raising an alarm in an emergency, picking up objects, fetching medication and a huge number of other tasks.

Labrador Kevin was handed over to Dogs’ Trust after his owner could no longer look after him. Staff at the rehoming centre recognised the pooch’s potential and teamed up with Support Dogs, who often train ex-rescue centre dogs to become life-changing assistance dogs.

Wendy, aged 52, has limited mobility due to disc degeneration in the base of her spine and neck and the pain syndrome fibromyalgia, and has needed the use of a wheelchair for the past 20 years. She was recently matched with Kevin, with him now in training as her disability assistance dog.

Kevin’s role as a disability assistance dog is to carry out essential everyday tasks around the house, such as helping Wendy dress and undress, pick up dropped items, and pressing Wendy’s emergency button as required. “Kevin is doing really well. He can now empty a full washing machine and open doors, and we’re just practising how to fetch help at the moment,” adds Wendy.

Angie’s epilepsy began at the age of 11 as a result of a brain tumour. Despite having the tumour removed, her epilepsy continued, with Angie enduring around five seizures a week. As she reached adulthood she applied for a support dog to warn her of the onset of her seizures.

Venus, a black flat coat retriever, was gifted by her breeder to Support Dogs, who trained Venus as an epilepsy seizure alert dog, and she was matched with Angie. She and Angie bonded immediately. “She changed my life from day one,” recalls Angie.

“To alert me, she would come to a halt and sit, but at an offset angle - not straight like she normally did. If it was a major seizure, she would warn me by putting her chin on my knee and then paw at me - she gave me exactly 40 minutes warning. If it was a minor seizure, she would head-rest 15 minutes beforehand. This would give me time to get to a place of safety. Support Dogs gave me the independence to go out alone, knowing that my dog would alert me to an oncoming seizure.” Venus has now retired, and so new dog, Ushka took over last year. Thanks to both Venus and now Ushka, Angie has much more control of her life and has gone on to be able to start a family of her own.

Louis is on the autism spectrum and has global development delay; his prognosis means he excels in some areas including numeracy and learning languages, whilst experiencing challenges in others such as balance, co-ordination and social skills.

Louis’ condition has meant he experiences difficulties in understanding everyday dangers and has found busy places or events challenging whilst having trouble sleeping and being reliant on his wheelchair when leaving the house.

However, this all changed when Louis was introduced to Iggy, Louis’ support dog. Since Iggy arrived things have improved remarkably. Louis has not needed to use his wheelchair once and can visit places he would not have been able to previously. Louis also sleeps well during the night, all because he has Iggy by his side to provide comfort and reassurance. Walking with Iggy helps Louis with his balance and now the pair go everywhere together.

Unprecedented growth in demand

Support Dogs has just celebrated 25 years of operation, however demand from families in desperate need of our support has never been higher. Demand for autism programme alone has increased by 10 fold over the past 5 years, with the charity received over 4,500 requests for help this year alone. This increase in demand was recently featured on BBC News.

The charity is ambitious and are striving to grow significantly, so that they can meet this demand and train more partnerships each year. To meet this ambition they are in the process of developing a capital appeal to purchase a larger, fit for purpose national training centre in Yorkshire.

Our funding

Support Dogs relies 100% of voluntary donations. They must fundraise for every penny they have and all the money they receive is spent entirely on transforming the lives of those affected by challenging medical conditions, or enabling the charity to grow so they can help more people. All the services are provided entirely free of charge.

Champions of the second chance

As well as their puppies, many of the dogs they train come from rescue centres, or found as unwanted pets on the internet. They are champions for dogs who need a second chance and they do not shy away from dogs that may be classed as difficult and therefore left without a home, Support Dogs know from experience that given the correct training, home and care these dogs can become fantastic assistance dogs.

Where your money goes

The charity relies entirely on voluntary donations. One hundred per cent of every penny that is donated will be used to improve the lives of those affected by some of the most serious medical conditions and to help grow the charity so that they can help even more families, individuals and dogs in the future.

All of the charity's services are provided entirely free of charge to those who need them.

What your support means to the charity

It takes up to two years and approximately £20,000 to train a Support Dogs' partnership.

Once that partnership has qualified they provide ongoing 24/7 365 days a year support throughout an average eight-year working career.

What it costs the charity

£10 - the cost per day of one working assistance dog

£50 - buys jackets and specialized harnesses

£100 - covers the costs of spaying/neutering a dog

£500 - covers the cost of a client/dog assessment

£1,000 - covers the cost of a client’s expenses during the residential training period

£2,000 - the cost per year of providing ongoing support to a qualified working support dog

£8,000 - the cost of caring for and socialising a young dog during its first year

£12,000 - the cost of the second year of advanced training for a client/dog partnership

£20,000 - combined two year cost of training a support dog partnership to qualification

£36,000 - total cost over a 10 year period of training and supporting a support dog partnership through its entire career.

Are you a charity that would benefit from our help?

We are open for applications from charities to receive funds from Draw Two.

Please download the charity requirement document to ensure you meet our criteria before applying.

If you are eligible, please download our application form and send it back to us at

THE NATIONAL PROPERTY DRAW LTD, HUDSON HOUSE, 8 ALBANY STREET, EDINBURGH, EH1 3QB

Charity Eligibility Requirements

Charity Application Form