Guide dog puppies and their ‘Puppy Raisers’ travel on Notts buses for free, thanks to Nottingham City Transport

5 days ago Thu 31st Oct 2024

Volunteers from Guide Dogs at Nottingham City Transport Depot.

Guide dog puppies, and the volunteers who care for them, can travel on buses for free in Nottingham, thanks to support from Nottingham City Transport.

The Transport Operator used to allow volunteers and pups from sight loss charity Guide Dogs to travel for free, but this was halted when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

It’s now announced that, from last month, this offer has been reinstated, allowing guide dog pups and their handlers to utilize the city’s bus network for important training, free of charge.

The charity’s Puppy Raisers, who are all volunteers, look after puppies for their first year, teaching them basic commands and introducing them to different social environments, with essential costs covered.

Guide Dog puppy being trained on the bus.

Anna Standing, Puppy Raising Operations Manager for the area, said: “We’d like to say a big thank you to Nottingham City Transport for reinstating their offer of free travel for our guide dog puppies and volunteer Puppy Raisers.  

“It’s essential that our pups learn to travel on different modes of transport with ease, to help prepare them for their future life as a working guide dog.

“Being able to travel on the city’s buses free of charge will make a real difference, helping our local volunteers, and puppies, to carry out their important training.”

Anthony Carver-Smith, Head of Marketing and Projects at Nottingham City Transport said: “After supporting Guide Dogs for several years and adopting a number of guide dogs, we are delighted to reinstate the arrangement that allows guide dog pups to travel free on our buses, as part of their training, for the important work they’ll do when they’re older to help people with sight loss retain their independence.”

The charity has a community of 17,000 volunteers, who gave around 20 million hours of their precious time last year. 

Guide Dogs is currently recruiting for more volunteer Puppy Raisers in Nottingham. To find out more about this role, email [email protected] or visit guidedogs.org.uk/volunteer

Guide Dog puppy on the bus.