Our Charities

Each year LSMOC and The London To Brighton Mini Run try to raise much needed money for charity

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Once again we have the pleasure of naming our chosen charities as

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Last year your donations managed to raise a fantastic £5000.

Half of this money was used to sponsor our very own L2B horse, Scoop! 

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The other half was used by canine partners to help train their dogs.

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Every penny received by these small organisations helps make a difference to peoples lives

About Our Charities

Canine Partners

www.caninepartners.org.uk

Canine Partners was founded in 1990, thanks to Anne Conway, an assistance dogs enthusiast and dog welfare campaigner, and Liz Ormerod, a well-known vet and animal-assisted therapy expert. Canine Partners was based on the model of The SOHO Foundation of Holland, an established assistance dogs programme.

Our assistance dogs are trained to meet the needs of individuals with even the most complex physical disabilities. We currently help adults aged 18 and over (both civilians and former service personnel) who have a physical disability or condition that affects their daily life and limits their independence.

Some of the disabilities and conditions we work with are:

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• Multiple sclerosis

• Cerebral palsy

• Spinal injuries and head injuries

• Stroke

• Osteoarthritis and scoliosis

• Arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis

• Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

• Friedrich’s ataxia

• Fibromyalgia

• Muscular dystrophy

• Spina bifida

• Osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bones)

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We are working in partnership with Help for Heroes, The Royal British Legion and other services organisations to provide assistance dogs for veterans and those wounded in service.

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Canine partners are carefully matched to the applicants’ needs and lifestyle, no matter how challenging. They are trained to help with everyday tasks such as opening and closing doors, unloading the washing machine, picking up dropped items, pressing buttons and switches and fetching help in an emergency. They can even help people to get undressed and remove a card from an ATM!

The Diamond Centre

www.diamondcentre.org.uk

Diamond provides therapeutic riding and carriage driving for children and adults with disabilities.

As part of the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA), The Diamond Centre exists to provide disabled people with the opportunity to ride, carriage drive or vault at the level of their ability to benefit their health and well being.

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Our riders are aged between 4 and 65 years old and each week, with the assistance of our instructors and helpers, they can enjoy the experience of riding, driving or vaulting. An experience which gives them the chance to be independent, a sense of achievement – and puts smiles on their faces!

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The Diamond Centre’s success hinges on its excellent team of volunteer instructors and helpers – without them we could not operate. In 2000 we won the Sport England Volunteer Investment Programme Award – an award for excellence in training, organising, retaining and rewarding volunteers.  In June 2009 we were given The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

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Many of our volunteers start with no previous experience of horses or the disabled. They come from all walks of life – and are all ages. Some help at The Diamond for a couple of hours each week and some for a couple of days. For those who would prefer not to work with horses, help is always needed to run the servery selling cups of tea etc. or maintaining the gardens.