26 December 2008
Boxing Day walk was a huge success again! 57 greyhounds came out to walk and then enjoy some sausage rolls and mince pies. Ali & Peanut got the special gift for being seasonally dressed.
Our thanks to Notley Country Park for all their help and support this year.
Here's to a 2009 filled with happily homed greyhounds who want to come out walking.
23 December 2008
Wishing everyone in the greyhound and lurcher world a very good Christmas and New Year ... Don't forget our 'holiday'walks on Boxing Day at 11am at Notley Contry Park, Braintree and on New Years Day at 1pm at Hylands Park, Chelmsford. Both are GreyhoundPLUS walks and on Boxing Day we'll have some seasonal nibbles and a special 'gift' for the most seasonally dressed owner or hound
Our New Rope String Band evening was a great success and we may even have interested someone in homing a greyhound! The band were brilliant and were so kind to us, big thanks to them all especially Tim for his very unique method of drawing a raffle.
Earlier in the month we sent a little Christmas present to all the local kennels, £75 each to give their dogs a special Christmas treat.
Well it's turned out to be a very eventful month! The main focus this month apart from our walks of course, has been to help Castledon Kennels raise the profile of their appeal for Princess. Princess was a stray 10yr old picked up by Castledon. She was spotted by a member of the public who had seen a greyhound 'with it's insides hanging out'. When she was caught she was found to have a huge tumour (the largest the referral vets had ever seen). After expert medical treatment we're happy to report that Princess is now on the way to recovery although sadly the tumour wasn't found to be benign. Greyhound Walks worked very hard to help the fundraising efforts to pay her vet bills, particularly Paul & Dave. Their fundraising continues until the bill is cleared. We really hope Princess now has a long and happy life after all the trauma she's been through.
Princess recovering from the operation to remove the tumour
Braintree saw 68 greyhounds and lurchers turning out on what was a clear but very windy day in November. Once again some of the greyhounds went to meet the children at PARC whilst the remainder stayed behind and spent their pocket money on Christmassy greyhound goodies.
The most 'extreme' walk we've ever undertaken has to be a Sizewell on 23rd. It was always going to be interesting because of the location and local 'characterisitcs', but no one could have forseen the weather!
Sue and the other mad greyhound owners getting ready for the walk.
Paul and Ian from the committee went to be officially thanked by RGOA for the £450 grant towards the roofing of the outside paddocks. We were very pleased that they chose to name one the Greyhound Walks Paddock
Paul, Richard (RGOA), the RGOA ladies and Ian outside the roofed paddock
24 October 2008
Another eventful couple of months for Greyhound Walks! Our Quiz Night at the begining of October raised over £680 to add to the Greyhound Walks fund that we give to the needy Essex and Suffolk greyhounds through grants.
We've had some very successful walks in Harlow, Weald Country Park, Needham Market and a return visit to Southend seafront, on a very wet day! We've welcomed along a lot of new owners and of course our existing friends with their lovely dogs. It's very hard to describe the atmosphere of a walk and although we always have some lovely pictures they never quite show just how special the walks are.
After our last walk at Notley Country Park we made a visit to the PARC centre. PARC is a play and resource centre based at the country park for children with disabilities and their families. We thought as greyhounds are so gentle this could be a good experience for the children and as you can see from the photo, it seems that's right. We'll now be making a visit each month after our walk
A family meet up with Mungo
In amongst the good news we also had some very sad news.
We were very upset to learn of the quite sudden death of Richard Keating at the end of August. Richard was one of our original walkers and very supportive, along with his wife Marion, of what we were doing, even donating their dog sitting money to our funds.
Richard was a part of our Greyhound Walks Display Team until his own dog Jack was taken ill. Jack went to Rainbow Bridge in June and shortly after that Richard himself fell ill.
At Marion's request a number of us attended Richard's very well attended and poignant funeral with our greyhounds. Our thoughts remain with Marion, Rest in Peace Richard.
The highlight of the summer for many of us was the Dunmow Carnival, we managed to get a lovely collection of greyhounds together, including some needing homes from Greyhoundhomer's Bishops Stortford kennels. There was so much interest in the dogs as we paraded through the town they were quite worn out by the time we reached the end. But and it was non stop until 6pm on the stall giving Test Drives and advice to loads of interested families!
All dressed any ready for the off at Dunmow Carnival Parade
We are so busy! Walks three times a month and shows every other weekend there's hardly time to stop and brush the dogs! Check the calendar page for the new walks planned through till December, and don't forget to put the two social events in your diaries, ticket details are on the forum or email Dave if you'd like to reserve some. Here's a little taster of The New Rope String Band .. believe me they are such a giggle!
The New Rope String Band
in association with Essex on Tour
Apart from really enjoying the walks, meeting new dogs and their owners and exploring the diverse and different corners of our counties we also manage to raise quite a lot of money, in what seems to be a pretty pain free way. From the generous donations of our supporters we've started to give grants to the kennels, all the details are in our August Newsletter but we would like to say a very BIG thankyou to everyone for every single penny that has been dropped into the Greyhound Walks pot.
Well there's been such a lot going on since the last update to the website. We've had walks in Danbury, Rendlesham Forest, Westley Heights and Frinton on Sea, some were warm, some were wet and some were just right!
We've also taken the Greyhound Walks Gazebo out to a few shows to promote our lovely dogs to the public. We've offered 'Test Drives' which are very popular and we've had very positive reaction everywhere we've been. Our lovely greyhounds of course have been absolutley marvellous.
The summer is just begining and we're going to be out and about all the way through to September so if you can come along and support us we'd just love to see you.
The money collected at the walks and social events is now being given out as grants to the local kennels who support Greyhound Walks. We've already had applications for help with building outdoor runs and extraordinary vet fees. As we donate our funds we'll keep you updated so you can see where your money is going.
2nd Anniversary show raises over £3200... see fun of the day here
6 April 2008Greyhounds do it in the snow! We had a beautiful walk in the snow filled meadows and woods of Weald Country Park. Snow had been falling since early morning but the roads were clear so the walk went ahead.
30 greyhound and lurchers turned out in their warmest coats, snoods and scarves for our hours wander. So long as we kept moving the cold stayed away and we had lots of lovely comments from the sledgers and people in the car park. All good publicity for our lovely dogs.
£22.50 was collected in the contributions bucket.
Weald Country Park
Sudbury was the second venue for our Suffolk walks this year and what a cracking morning it was! The sun defied the weather men and shone brightly for the whole walk, giving everything the feelgood factor. Following a very supportive piece in the Sudbury Mercury we had lots of local owners join us, I think even they were amazed at how many greyhounds there were in Sudbury that day. Our total greyhound and lurcher count was 69, an amazing number for a new walk.
We also had a number of hopefully 'potential' owners who came along to test drive one of the greyhounds and quiz the owners. Lets hope that does turn into new homes.
Sudbury was a brilliant location for the walk, really varied with the meadows, the disused railway line and the riverside. Although the meadows were a little soggy in places everyone came well prepared with their wellies and hiking boots on and or course the dogs were ok as they walk on stilts anyway!
Our collection bucket had £72.17 dropped into it, again amazing. Thank you to Sudbury and especially the Mill Hotel for letting us use their car park.
Sudbury Water Meadows (thanks to Paul K for the picture).
Greyhound Walks now has a committee! Following the General Meeting held at the Quiz Night in February, where a constitution was adopted, the new committee members, Ian O'Neill (Treasurer), Kelly Channon (Secretary), Janet Peacock (Chairman) plus Dave & Maggie Sansum (Summer Shows), Paul Deeprose (Kennels Liaison) and Dave Peacock (Social Events) are very busy arranging the current year
The first major task is to set up a dedicated bank account. While this is in progress we're not making donations to the kennels, however we will be allocating money at our April committee meeting
Donations received from you so far this year are- Walks: £351.39
- Pennies: £51.40
- Quiz Night: £523.61
We had the most lovely walk at Thorndon Country Park on the first Sunday of the month, a really nice spot and enjoyed by everyone. Quite a few heads were turned as we meandered through the woods and then collected for teas and coffee in the late morning sun.
Thorndon Country Park (thanks to Rob for the picture).
A long time since the news was updated and so much going on!
We're extending our walks to 3 per month this year. We're going to walk alternate months in Suffolk, the next walk there being on 30th March, and we're also having a shot at East Herts. Our first venture there was on 24th February when we ventured just over the border to Sawbridgeworth to Pishiobury Park. We were joined by lots of lurchers from Southern Lurcher Rescue, and I think everyone had a good time. Thanks to the 61 dogs who came strolling and to the very dog friendly Three Horseshoes pub in Spellbrook Lane
In February our record number of dogs walking was smashed yet again when at the Braintree walk we 'clicked through' 79 dogs. Braintree is our home ground takes the well deserved record. Lets see if that record can be broken again.
We had our 2nd Quiz Night at Marks Tey Parish Hall and once again it was a huge hit. We had over 80 participants plus over 30 dogs, who not only enjoyed the demanding questions, free bar and healthy hot dog supper, but were also entertained by A K Creations Fashion show in the break. Thank you to Anja for a great parade of all the lastest fashions that every greyhound should have in their wardrobe.
We made £525 on the night ... so all in all another resounding success. What do we do to top that?
Here's our latest newsletter for you ... January 2008 Newsletter
Well into the New Year and only just catching up!
Well 2008 has started off at a cracking pace! New Year's Day saw a dry on top but soggy underneath walk at Friday Woods. Definitely boot territory but a very enjpyable walk for those with no hangovers. Our usual Braintree walk on 13th saw a ecord number of dogs along, all our usual stalwarts plus new faces.
Our first serious venture into Suffolk attracted a huge number of dogs, 72 in total on what was such a pleasant afternoon. This was a 2pm walk which worked really well, and of course the weather was very kind and the park was an ideal location. Thanks to Greyhoundhomer RGT for coming along to support this walk, we hope you enjoyed your first venture out with us.
Through a lane on the Needham Lakes walk
Events
Social events, shows, fetes and events that Greyhound Walks are organising, supporting or that might be of interest to greyhound owners.
2008
- The New Rope String Band
Marks Tey Parish Hall
Sat 13 December - 7.30pm
Full details on the Forum
or contact Dave
2009
- Race Night
Frypa Hall, The Fryth, Basildon
Sat 24 January 2009
Tickets £8 adults, £6 child,
£1 greyhound includes betting slips, GW currency and meal.
Prizes for Winners and Losers
Contact Kelly
Shows, Carnivals & Fetes
- Woodbridge Christmas Street Fair
Sunday 7th December 2008
10am - 4pm - 2009 Greyhound Walks Show & Garden Party
Sunday 26th April 2009
More details to follow
