WALLASEY branch of Guide Dogs for the Blind thank Skoda motor dealer Frank Brennan for donating the day's taking at the car wash at Wallasey Car Centre to their charity. Pictured with Frank are treasurer Denise Patterson, Brenda Leigh, Jan Gosling and guide dogs Perry and Friday.

Guide Dogs for the Blind are not only close to Frank's heart as a charity, but also to his home in Wallasey, the town where guide dog training started. In New Brighton there is a bronze statue of a guide dog marking where the guide dog movement started, thanks to one Miss M. F. Crooke.

It was the Germans who pioneered training guide dogs for the blind before World War I. Miss Crooke followed the lead here in the 1930s, first based at kennels in Wallasey then moving to The Cliff, a property in New Brighgton let by Wallasey Council. The Germans blitz wrecked The Cliff during WWII but the British bulldog spirit meant Guide Dogs for the Blind would continue into a national movement.

Frank added: "The Guide Dogs for the Blind is always something I've admired. It's incredible the trust the owners put in these guide dogs."

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