My name is Martha, I am a 29 year old woman living with Cerebral Palsy. I was partnered with Greg in November 2021, and we became a qualified assistance dog team in May 2022. As well as being my constant companion, Greg helps me do the laundry, retrieves dropped items and named items too. Greg closes doors, and can help me remove clothing. He makes life with a disability a lot less lonely and frustrating.

If you were following my May Marathon last year, you will know I reached my target ahead of schedule, I was so excited … and very tired! Since my last marathon my love for walking & adventuring with my boy has only grown, Greg really has helped me find my feet again!

This year I am setting myself an even bigger challenge, to walk 50 miles throughout May, this will be a huge challenge! I am hoping to raise £5000. This will allow me to name a puppy after my mum, Libbi who sadly passed away on Boxing Day last year.

My mum made it known how proud she was to be “Greggy’s Granny” and how grateful she was to DfG for bringing Greg into our lives. In the later stages of her illness we never spoke with mum much about life without her, but on the one occasion we did she said to me, “I know you’ll be okay, you have Greggy”. Needless to say this still brings tears to my eyes, not least because I know she wholeheartedly meant it. Greg isn’t just my assistance dog, he is my best friend. He has given so much comfort and love to my family and me over the past few months. I can’t thank him enough for being a ray of sunshine in the harshest winter.

Please give if and what you can and share this page far and wide to help raise funds so Dogs for Good can train and support more Greg-cellent assistance dogs like mine.

Throughout the month of May I will be posting updates on JustGiving, and on Greg’s instagram. I will also be connecting this page to my Strava app so you can see where I’ve walked and the distance!

More info on Dogs for Good:

Dogs for Good believes in the power of dogs.

Since 1988, Dogs for Good has been making life-changing differences for people with disabilities. The charity supports people with complex needs including physical disabilities, autism, dementia and learning disabilities enabling them to lead more independent lives through the help of trained dogs.

They receive over 5,000 enquiries a year and it costs more than £22,000 to train and support each assistance dog. With your sponsorship, they can create more life-changing partnerships. Thank you.

You can see more stories of their life changing work on the Dogs for Good website.