‘My Four-Legged Shadow’ by Elin Williams

It was the 6^th of January 2015, I was sat on the floor in my room feeling excited, nervous but mostly overwhelmed. Dave my Guide Dogs mobility instructor (GDMI) and Adam, the Guide Dogs trainer, had left me alone with a 28kg bundle of energy who was bouncing around my room and sniffing everything in reach. This was D Day; the day I started training to become a guide dog owner (GDO).

            The bouncing bundle of fur in question is a cheeky, sensitive, beautiful black Labrador retriever cross called Jazzy.

 We qualified as a partnership on the 26^th of January after three weeks of intensive training during which I learned how to feed her, spend her, groom her, play with her, work her and basically take care of her. It was a bit of a culture shock to say the least, the early morning trips to the spending pen (where she does her business) were especially gruelling in freezing January! Never the less we got to know each other quickly and soon settled into a routine.

For those who don’t know, a guide dog undergoes around 18 months of training before being matched with a visually impaired person. They stay with a foster family for the first year or so to be socialised and learn basic obedience, then they receive advanced training from qualified Guide Dogs staff. Their advanced training teaches them to work when they’re in harness which is when they’re doing the actual guiding. This means always walking on the left of their handler, walking in straight lines, stopping at kerbs and recognising directions such as ‘left’ and ‘right’. They’re also taught to be aware of the handler’s right shoulder so that they can assess if a space is big enough for themselves and their handler to get through without collision. Guide dogs are kept on a strict diet to maintain their health and well-being and require being worked in harness for at least an hour every day to maintain their training.

It’s difficult for me to pinpoint exactly how much of a difference having Jazzy has made to my life, because there isn’t really much of a comparison. Before I became a GDO I was capable enough of getting around independently with my white cane, but lacked the confidence to venture very far on my own. I struggled with socialising and found going out independently stressful. The main thing I’d say that having Jazzy along for the ride does is take away that stress. She’s with me 24/7; she comes to lectures, she comes with me shopping, she comes on every bus and every train with me and she sleeps at the end of my bed. She is the guide that I don’t have to feel guilty for relying on, she is the cane that corrects me if I get lost, and she’s the sight I don’t have. Mainly, the world doesn't seem such a scary place with my four-legged shadow alongside.

Guide Dogs UK receive no government funding and rely completely on fundraising and donations to keep doing what they do, which is giving people like me confidence, independence and freedom. A guide dog can cost up to £50,000 during its lifetime including all training, food and vet bills which Guide Dogs offer to fund for each owner in order to give everyone equal opportunity to be a GDO. On Thursday 14^th May Jazzy and I will be at the Chester Beer Festival representing Guide Dogs UK and hoping to raise some funds with a very exciting raffle! Please come along to be in with the chance of winning a prize and donating to this wonderful cause. It’s free entry for students on Thursday, so you really have no excuse! Hope to see you there! 

The President Diaries: National Rotary Conference in Belfast (10th – 12th April 2015)

Hello my Rotaractors and to others who have stumbled upon but hopefully purposely sought out our blog! In my first blog post as President I have probably the most exciting story I will ever have to share with you.

Every year the National Rotary Conference is held, moving to different locations across the UK each time. This year it was in Belfast and I was personally invited by the President of RIBI Peter King to come along and speak about the Chester Rotaract club to over 1000 Rotarians. He had heard me speak at the District 1180 Conference in Southport last November and I had obviously made quite an impression! The scale of what I had agreed to do however didn't really hit me until I arrived at the Waterfront Conference centre to attend the Friday session, the day before I was due to speak, and was greeted by this massive building, a three tiered auditorium!

Knowing I was speaking on the second day allowed me to sit back and enjoy the first day’s speakers which included President Peter King himself in an opening address as well as talks from Minister of State for Ireland Simon Harris, Journalist Claire Savage & Olympian Dame Mary Peters.

That evening I attended a ‘posh-do’ at the Titanic Belfast which is a museum showing the history of the ship being built as well as the eventual disaster that followed (it’s building stands by the very dock where the ship was built and the slip-way is still symbolised by the supporting posts for Titanic sticking out of the ground). The top floor of the building is only for private functions and when we went in to this massive dining hall, at the far end was a replica of the famous grand staircase. We were then served a lovely dinner and came away with a souvenir replica ticket for the Titanic – stamped with the day’s date.

After an early night I was up and early to the conference centre to prepare to be second on stage following a presentation from Cwmtawe Interact club just before me. Here is me ‘pondering’ before the crowd were let in and this also acted as a chance for me to train my mum on taking a photo on our camera without the flash (this is about photo 5 from that training).

What I hadn’t realised until I was ushered backstage is that I would be sat on the stage whilst the others in our section were doing their presentation. Luckily this allowed me to calm my nerves further and get a feel for the stage whilst the Cwmtawe Interact Club gave an excellent and entertaining presentation.

It was soon my turn to get up there and in true Blue Peter fashion I can include some short exerts from my prepared speech on this blog whilst you have a browse through some pictures (shout out to Beryl who was on the middle tier taking the wide-shot photo’s you can see as well as Mama Scott who was nearer to the podium).

“As a home student it was important for me to try and become as involved in the university experience as possible. A few of my early friends encouraged me to come along to their next Rotaract meeting and so I went. What greeted me when I arrived was not only a vast array of free food (students love free food), but also a room full of ideas – there was a whiteboard with ideas for potential fundraisers and activities and lots of pockets of discussion as well as a presence from the Saughall Rotary club (our sponsor club) who were making their way around the room getting to know us all in turn. As they say the rest is history and I kept going every week ultimately ending up standing before you all in Belfast representing the club as its President.”

“This year has been important for our club in making connections with other young people within the UK. We had thought we were one of the few Rotaract clubs in the UK but we were contacted by the Manchester Rotaract club, who are also university based, and who were arranging a big meet up for Rotaract clubs. We spent an entire day in Manchester and also had a presence from the Rotaract club of York as well as Leeds. It was an opportunity for us to form a collaboration and share ideas to the point where we now are all members of a joint club Facebook group to share each other’s activities.”

 I will never forget this amazing opportunity and things will only keep getting better for our club. I made many more useful connections for us both with Rotarians, Rotaractors and charities and I feel the best summary to this blog entry can be found in the last line of my speech: “For me Rotaract is the youth club I never had and I am proud to call myself a Rotarian.” (Scott, 2015 – that moment when you can reference yourself) 

Acts of Kindness, Bowling and The Lion King!

Hello everyone!

Just thought a quick post to let you know what we've been up too is in order! We have officially decided our committee members for next year (exciting!) and last week we had a random acts of kindness campaign which involved handing out sweets and chocolate to hard working library goers during deadline week - because we're just THAT nice!

Preparations for handing out sweets and chocolate!

we also went bowling at Cheshire Oaks which was great fun! 

And we also went round to Emily and Amanda's house to watch The Lion King! Because who doesn't love to watch Disney Movies?! 

As you can tell it's been a very busy, but productive couple of weeks! We also have a lot planned for the rest of the year!  

Climbing the Dome!

On Monday the 23rd February a few of us headed off to London to climb the Millennium Dome (the 02 arena). We also had a tour around London and got the tube to and from different places which was very fun! It was an amazing experience, and despite it being very windy, we all had an great time and more importantly we raised a lot of money for a good cause - ending polio and walk for water, two very important charities which Rotary has worked closely with. (You still have time to donate to us by clicking HERE). 

The reason we did the climb was not only to raise money and awareness for these charities but to also simply celebrate Rotary's 110th birthday! It is amazing that such a great organisation has lasted this long and we will continue to do good for the community and the wider world for many more years!
Here are some pictures! :) 

Selfie Stick! 

We got to London in time to see the sunrise - very pretty!

We were very excited to get on the Hogwarts express!

Pizza!!!! 

Trafalgar Square. 

Buckingham Palace. 

Time to Climb

The view from the top was amazing!

We made it! 

Selfie on top of the 02!

Unfortauntley Annabelle's time was later than the rest of us so we waited at the bottom to cheer her on!

YAY!