Becky is a regular fundraiser for the charity and through COVID-19 came up with innovative ideas to help get us through.
One of our dogs, Otis was rescued from a puppy farm. We didn’t know much about puppy farming until we found Schnauzerfest on Facebook. It is a wonderful charity that helps raise awareness of puppy farming and raises funds for dogs in need by running various things, including charity walks. I hadn’t considered running a walk until our local event at Bedford’s Park needed someone to do it. I couldn’t see it get cancelled so I volunteered! It was a great success with over 30 dogs in attendance and resulted in us forming a monthly dog walking group as well as running three more fundraising events for Schanuzerfest before Covid-19 struck.
All the big Schnauzerfest walks were cancelled in 2020 so to help continue fundraising for the charity, we found another way to raise funds by asking people to sponsor us on an Alphabet Trail. For 26 weeks during Covid restrictions we walked locally sharing a photo of the dogs with something from our walk beginning with that letter from the alphabet. Some letters were quite a challenge, but it really gave us something to focus on during those difficult months, I got to improve my photography skills, and most importantly we raised over £500.
Because of Schnauzerfest I’ve learnt a lot about puppy farms and the terrible experiences rescued dogs have gone through. Thankfully Otis was one of the lucky ones that didn’t need serious medical attention, however he is still emotionally scarred. Bert, our other dog has been a great help in teaching him ‘all things dog’ but there is nothing more rewarding than when we see Otis’ true happiness – walking in the countryside with a sense of freedom and the wind blowing through his beard!
Becky is a fundraising mentor
Becky is one of our volunteer fundraising mentors and is happy to help anyone keen to get going with their fundraising.