School 'adopts' guide dog pup

Some special guests popped into St Aidan’s CE Technology College in Preesall – including some of the four-legged variety.Over the past two years some of the students have been raising money for the charity Guide Dogs for the Blind through various fund-raisers, including a chocolate tombola, Christmas fair and an ice lolly stall. And their efforts have exceeded a tidy £1,500.It means the school has raised enough money to ‘adopt’ a guide dog puppy, effectively helping to pay for the pooch to be trained up.It is hoped the new puppy will be able to visit in the summer.Guests from the charity recently called into the school and brought along a couple of their veteran dogs.Simon Calvert, assistant head teacher, said: “Just prior to Christmas the total raised exceeded the £1,500 mark and subsequently we have been able to adopt a Guide Dog puppy. “We had a competition to name the puppy in school with ‘Riley’ being the most popular name. Riley was born in early January and will hopefully be coming to visit the school in the summer term.”He added: “The students have really enjoyed the various fund- raising activities over the past few years. The Guide Dog charity is close to the hearts of a number of students and it is great to finally achieve our goal of adopting a puppy.”