My lovely friend Catherine approached me a little while ago. She had been awarded a "challenge experience" to Fly Like A Jet Fighter Pilot as a thank you for the amazing work she put into raising funds for a cancer charity - a cause close to her heart as she herself is undergoing treatment for cancer. However, typical Catherine thought she would use the opportunity to raise funds to support Hope Rescue, and in particular their project to create a sensory garden for their dogs. Sadly Catherine's medical team feel she is not well enough to undertake the challenge and she has asked me as Chair of Trustees to do it instead.   

An ex-military instructor will teach me how to fly like a fighter pilot in a Bulldog ex-military plane. I will fly a variety of aerobatic figures starting off with gentle loops and rolls, and including an allerson loop, stall turn, barrel roll, Cuban 8, slow roll, vertical roll and derry turn. Whilst it is a thrilling and amazing opportunity I am more than a little terrified! I am the person who cannot travel in the back of a car without getting travel sick and really does not travel well on  a plane. So this will be a real challenge for me and I hope that I can use it to raise a good amount for this amazing project and also do Catherine proud. The date is set for September 25th at Goodwood Aero Club in Chichester.

Hope Rescue saves the lives of over 600 dogs every year. The majority of them are stray dogs that would otherwise be euthanised in Local Authority pounds after completing their statutory 7 days. They commit to take ALL the stray dogs from 4 Local Authorities in South Wales. No-one gets left behind irrespective of age, breed or medical condition.

Hope Rescue do not have their own rescue centre. They use private boarding kennels and foster homes. Some of the dogs, especially the bull breeds and larger dogs, can spend a long time in kennels. They work hard to try and improve the lives of our kennel dog and have been offered an amazing opportunity at Coedely Animal Hotel, Porth to turn a large area of overgrown and redundant space into a useable space to benefit the dogs that board there. The idea is to create a small scale Sensory Garden for the dogs to enjoy and a training space for their behaviourist to use. What is a Sensory Garden you may ask - it is an area of land that has been cultivated and designed from a dog's perspective (or as close as humans can get). Dogs in kennels don't have the opportunity that other dogs might have to express their canine behaviour - they can't run off lead, they can't dig, they can't explore, can't chase things, and can become bored and stressed. Without having a safe and controlled space, it is almost impossible to allow them to do these things. Just having the space of a garden would be wonderful, but a sensory garden adds herbs, obstacles, hidden treats, sand pits, differing levels - think of a playground but for dogs. 

Work has already begun by volunteers to clear the space and take down redundant outbuildings. The next step is to get plans prepared and a schedule of works and costs. The first major cost however will be to get the area fenced so there is at least a secure area for off lead work that can used straight away before the  rest of the work begins. This challenge will be raising funds for the initial fencing work.