Amanda Dyson and assistance dog Jay representing Support Dogs (left) accept a £20,000 cheque from Anne Daniels.

Liverpool school raises £20,000 for Support Dogs

Pupils, teachers and parents at Liverpool’s Carleton House School raised £20,000 for Support Dogs after a six-month long fundraising campaign. The national charity will train an Autism Assistance dog with the money raised.

Head teacher, Anne Daniels, launched the campaign with a tandem sky dive, and subsequent raffles, movie nights and family fun days raised further funds.

The campaign received generous contributions from parents and companies, as well as prize donations, including a club mascot day at Liverpool FC.

The charity’s work ‘resonated’ with the children, who chose Support Dogs for their annual fundraising initiative. Anne Daniels said “Having their own pets, the children could really empathise with the difference a dog could make to people with autism.”

Support Dogs is a national charity that provides specialist assistance dogs to support children and adults with disabilities, autism and epilepsy. It costs around £20,000 to train an assistance dog.

Danny Anderson, fundraising manager at Support Dogs said “We are honoured to have been chosen as Carleton House’s charity this year and thank the children, teachers and parents for their huge efforts to raise money for us throughout the year.”

He continued, “We are entirely funded through voluntary donations and the school’s generous support will enable us to continue to make a very real difference to the lives of people living with some of the most challenging conditions.”