Dogs on Duty campaign day

This blog was written by one of our Young Healthwatch volunteers, who recently took part in the Dogs on Duty campaign day in Leighton Buzzard. The campaign aimed to raise awareness among local businesses about the rights of guide dog owners and the importance of creating accessible spaces for everyone. Here’s their experience of the day in their own words.

On the 22^nd of September as part of the Dogs on Duty Campaign, Young Healthwatch members and a small group of outside people set out to educate the small businesses and shops that had buildings in and around Leighton buzzard town centre. The aim was to educate and familiarise business owners on the law and importance of allowing people and their guide dogs into their shops to create a safe and equal environment for all. I chose to take part in this amazing event not just because cute dogs were involved but because hopefully, we helped make a difference and provided a fairer world for everyone.

We spent most of our day outside and luckily it was a beautifully sunny day. First we stood in the town centre and were briefed on our aims and how we were going to approach the task in hand. We split into three groups and we were each given information packs and stickers for us to hand out to shop owners. We got to meet (and cuddle) two beautiful guide dogs and their owners (although minus the cuddle part for the owners), as well as Leighton buzzard’s mayor, a town councillor and a police officer. Once we were organised, we set off in our groups in the direction we had been instructed to go.

We went to various shops and had a chat with either the managers or available staff on duty, I was super lucky in the fact I was allowed to take the lead and speak to the shop keepers on my own (with maybe a little help from Elli). We went to about 10 shops and we were pleasantly surprised because nearly all the shops responded well and agreed to put up the ‘Guide dogs’ welcome sticker’.

Overall, I feel it was a good day that hopefully brought a positive change and impact. To end the day, we all entered the Wetherspoons to properly educate them on the laws around guide dogs – as it was the Wetherspoons denial of access to a guide dog that started the campaign, lastly we sat down and had a lovely drink in a cute café to debrief and discuss our findings.