King’s representative is given exclusive tour of Support Dogs’ new national headquarters
Staff and wonderdogs at an assistance dogs charity were humbled to have King Charles III’s representative in South Yorkshire, alongside members of nobility, visit for a tour of their new premises.
Professor Dame Hilary Chapman DBE, His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, and the Earl and Countess of Scarbrough were given a guided tour of Support Dogs’ brand-new headquarters.
The trio learned all about the charity’s exciting plans to transform the 28,000 sq ft offices and warehouse at Elsworth House, on Herries Road South, Hillsborough, into a national centre of excellence in assistance dog training.
Support Dogs has launched a Capital Appeal to raise £5m to create a purpose-built facility that will feature specialist epilepsy support and training rooms, and rooms for its disability assistance and autism assistance programmes. In addition, it will include areas available to expand its services to the wider community, as well as specialist puppy and assistance dog training arenas.
This is to meet the overwhelming need for its services, as 29,000 people accessed its application pages last year.
It is hoped that the new centre will facilitate the expansion of the charity’s life-changing services, enabling Support Dogs to increase the number of assistance dogs it trains and provides to help autistic children and adults with epilepsy or physical disability by more than 300 per cent.
The Lord-Lieutenant and the Earl and Countess, who have been patrons of the charity for 10 years, met with the charity’s chief executive, Rita Howson, as well as trainer Emily High and two-year-old black Lab Sascha, a support dog-in-training.
Dame Hilary said: “As a registered nurse for over 40 years, I hadn’t realised the breadth and reach of what a support dog can help with. It’s absolutely amazing what they can do to help individuals.
“A testimonial video of a client whose epilepsy seizure alert dog gives her 37 minutes advanced warning of a seizure was so powerful.
“I’ve seen therapy dogs in hospitals and the community, but I wasn’t aware of the role of support dogs – they can be life-changing.
“Support Dogs’ new premises gives the organisation so much scope to develop as a charity.”
Dame Hilary was one of the country’s most prominent chief nurses and is credited with making major contributions to health policy, healthcare delivery and system reform.
She is probably most well-known for co-leading the development of the Safer Nursing Care Tool, which is now used widely in hospitals across the UK.
The Lord-Lieutenant began and ended her NHS career in Sheffield, retiring in 2018 as Chief Nurse at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
She is an Honorary Professor at Sheffield Hallam University and an Honorary Doctor of Medicine at Sheffield University. She's also a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing and served on the National Institute for Healthcare Research Advisory Board.
Earl Scarbrough is a British peer and himself a Deputy Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, taking an active role in local charities.
Rita Howson said: “We were absolutely honoured to welcome Professor Dame Hilary Chapman DBE, HM Lord-Lieutenant of South Yorkshire and the Earl and Countess of Scarbrough to our new centre.
“We gave them a tour and revealed more about our plans to turn it into a purpose-built national centre of excellence. They were very impressed and interested to learn more about our work.
“As our trained dogs are essentially medical aids, enabling people to live more safely and independently, we were especially delighted to welcome the Lord-Lieutenant in her capacity as a prominent figure in the medical field.”
To find out more about Support Dogs’ capital appeal, please visit www.supportdogs.org.uk/national-centre-appeal