Georgina Moore from Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire, features in the video for the song by Rick Astley which was used to launch the search for the Children in Need/BBC Sports Personality of
the year 2020.

Georgina, who has a severe physical disability, is the only wheelchair user featured in the video and was
one of last year’s winners of the Unsung Hero award for the south west.

She has a Dogs for Good assistance dog called Tally (a black Labrador girl aged 7) who was matched with her by staff at the Bristol office of Dogs for Good. 

Dogs for Good

Was founded in 1988 by Frances Hay, who was disabled and experienced the benefits her own dogs brought to her, providing her with independence and companionship

It’s a UK-wide charity that creates life-changing differences for people living with a wide range of disabilities and conditions including autism, physical disabilities, dementia and learning disabilities, through the help of a specially trained dog. The charity’s assistance and community dogs enable people to live more independently. 

Every assistance dog is specially trained to help with practical tasks that many people with disabilities find difficult or impossible to do, such as opening and closing doors, helping with dressing and undressing, retrieving items such as mobile telephones or dropped articles like keys or a bag, loading and emptying the washing machine, pressing a pedestrian crossing button and reaching up to shop-counters with items such as a wallet.  It takes nearly two years to prepare and train an assistance dog to be partnered with a child or adult with disabilities and each dog is specially matched to their human partner.  Dogs for Good also trains assistance dogs to help children with autism.

Dogs for Good aims and objectives

Dogs for Good is an innovative charity, exploring the ways dogs can help people with disabilities overcome specific challenges and enrich and improve lives and communities. It’s National Training Centre is situated at The Frances Hay Centre in Banbury, Oxfordshire whilst it also has training centres in Culcheth, Warrington and Knowle in Bristol

Each service has been specifically designed to offer the best help to adults and children with a range of physical disabilities, autism, dementia and learning disabilities through the help of an expertly-trained dog

Dogs  for Good offers three core services: Assistance Dog, Community Dog and Family Dog

Across the UK, Dogs for Good:

Supports 311 current Assistance Dog partnerships

Trains and matches 50 new partnerships per annum

Has 12 Community Dogs working with 196 adults and children alongside a specialist handler

Has helped and continues to support over 1400 families through its Family Dog service

Has over 600 essential volunteers

Dogs for Good’s approach is unique; we’re pioneering new ways of working to enable us to use our resources to help as many people as possible

The Numbers

Each year, Dogs for Good receives over 5000 enquiries for its services

The whole life cost of a working assistance dog (from puppy to retirement) is £22,212

The cost of training an assistance dog is £13,962

76p in every £1 we raise goes directly to making a life-changing difference to someone with disability through contact with a dog (therefore, it costs 24p to raise £1)

If you’d like to find out more about Dog for Good or help them with their fantastic work just visit https://www.dogsforgood.org/