Guide dog sponsorship reaches 100 puppy milestone

Real estate agency Bayleys has reached its initial target of funding the breeding and training of 100 puppies for the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind’s (RNZFB) Guide Dog Services.

As principal sponsor of RNZFB’s Guide Dog Services for the past six years, Bayleys has undertaken a number of fundraising projects to enable the company to reach this goal.

It was proceeds from the Every Dog Has its Day online auction, which concluded last month, which got Bayleys across the 100 dog sponsorship threshold. The company has now raised more than $2.2million for Guide Dog Services.

Bayleys managing director Mike Bayley said the auction delivered a great result for Guide Dog Services at a time when unprecedented charity fundraising activities were taking place in support of numerous Christchurch earthquake recovery appeals.

“The awareness that the New Zealand public has of guide dogs, combined with the vast array of items up for bidding, were two critical factors in the success of this particular initiative,” Mr Bayley said.

“I’m really proud of the Bayleys staff around the country who worked on this fundraising initiative for a number of months – sourcing more than 950 items which went up for bidding, and promoting the auction to their immense contact networks.”

Among the high profile auction items which secured bidding from generous New Zealanders were:

- A date with All Black skipper Richie McCaw which sold for $5510

- A tour of Guide Dog Services with Kiwi supermodel Rachel Hunter which made $715

- A night at the exclusive Eagle’s Nest lodge in the Bay of Islands which reached $3600

- A walk-on part on Shortland Street which received bidding of $905

- A 12th man sailing experience on-board Emirates Team New Zealand’s latest racing catamaran, which attracted $2515

RNZFB chief executive Sandra Budd says: “We’re incredibly grateful for the longstanding partnership we have with Bayleys’ which has meant, despite challenging economic times, this 100 puppy milestone has been achieved.”

“With more than 240 active guide dog teams and 40 blind and partially sighted members waiting to be matched with a guide dog, our need to breed and train puppies is greater than ever - especially in Canterbury where many of our guide dogs will need retraining. The support of Bayleys over the past six years has been fantastic, and we welcome their ongoing support as well as that of all New Zealanders.”