Morris Living has always been passionate about supporting charities and donating to good causes. For 2022, owner Robert Morris has chosen to work with a charity that is particularly close to his heart. After losing his beloved family pet Labrador Piper, Robert wanted to help a charity over the next 12 months related to dogs and helping those who need them for some extra support.
After some research and becoming familiar with the work of Support Dogs UK, the charity was a no brainer. Support Dogs UK gives specialist training to dogs so that they can provide essential support to people with various medical conditions.
Supporting people with medical conditions
Support Dogs UK are a Sheffield based charity who run three specific training programmes for dogs. The first programme is for disability assistance dogs, assisting people with physical disabilities. Another programme is for dogs supporting children with autism and the third is for seizure alert, preparing dogs for people with epilepsy.
In addition to providing these crucial training programmes to help people who require both physical and emotional support, another remarkable detail about Support Dogs UK is that 1 in 4 dogs they train come from rescue centres or as unwanted pets. This means that they are also able to save dogs from the possibility of a much worse fate.
The impact of the charity
Established in 1992, Support Dogs UK works across England, Scotland and Wales, providing its services free of charge to the people who need them most. Through funding and sponsorship from companies such as Morris Living, Support Dogs UK can keep providing their life-changing services.
Chris Daykin, Corporate Sponsorship Manager at the charity has spoken of how fundraising activities from businesses like Morris Living has helped Support Dogs UK to continue their services for the past 30 years:
“We are so grateful that Morris Living have chosen to make us their charity of the year. This year we celebrate the 30th year of our charity. Our passion and commitment to ensure that people affected by autism, epilepsy and physical disability can live in safety and with more independence, continues to drive our work. However, all that we achieve is only possible thanks to kind supporters like Morris Living."
The funding Support Dogs UK receives has a huge impact on people’s lives, for example, helping people with mobility issues to have more independence than they would be able to have otherwise. There is no denying the positive impact service dogs have on the mental health of their owners.
You can read all about the many ways that the dogs trained by Support Dogs UK have changed people’s lives on the charity website. Some of the touching stories include those from individuals like 7-year-old Franklin, who is now able to enjoy activities like going to the park through the help of his autism support dog, a beautiful golden Labrador, Thunda.
Rupert also changed the life of his owner Grainne who has MS, and we also hear how having a support dog has helped Kevan after he suffered a massive stroke. There are so many amazing stories, and these are just a few examples of the wonderful work that the charity does.
How Morris Living helps Support Dogs UK
As a dog owner, Morris Living owner Robert is delighted that he can contribute to this fantastic charity.
“It is with great delight we welcome Support Dogs UK as our Charity Partner for 2022. Our aim is to raise awareness and much needed funds for the charity this year.
We are all dog lovers at Morris Living and I personally am also very familiar with the Labrador breed.
Support Dogs are an obvious choice for us. Both Support Dogs UK and Morris Living know well the joy of helping those less able. It’s a shared goal of ours to enrich lives of those less mobile. We do this by equipping people with the means to get on with their day-to-day activities, often things that are taken for granted by most of us.
We hope our customers at Morris Living can get behind this wonderful charity and help to place more support dogs nationwide”.
Morris Living customers now have the option to donate a value of their choice when they pay for their furniture. Morris Living are also donating 5% of all sales of their refurbished section to Support Dogs UK.
Visit Support Dogs UK now to learn more about the wonderful work they do.
