Irish Guide Dogs has announced plans to train 240 people across its range of services for the vision impaired in 2014.

In a statement, the charity discussed its “record” 2013 during which it trained 197 people in various roles across its guide dog programme; its assistance dog programme for children with autism; its mobility programme, including long-cane training and independent living skills, for people who are vision impaired; and its child mobility training programme.

The charity also said it was delighted to have raised more money through fundraising in 2013 compared with 2012, despite the current difficult financial climate.

“This is a great achievement in challenging times and it is reassuring that the public continue to value our work and trust us to deliver much-needed services for people who are vision impaired and for families of children with autism,” said chief executive Padraig Mallon.

“With your support and the hard work of our team we aim to train 240 people in 2014 and looking further ahead we have a target of training 266 people in 2016.

He added: “The targets are not just a number – what is really important is 266 lives we will change for the better.”
Mallon also spoke of the “lengthy” training process for the charity’s guide dogs, each of which has a lifetime cost of some €38,000 and is “a life-changing resource” for their recipient family.

“The fact that all of our services and supports are offered free of charge means that anybody who needs our services can get them without having to worry about whether they can afford it,” he said.
“We are aiming very high this year and based on our performance last year and the amazing support of the general public I think we can achieve it.”

The charity said it requires more than €4.8m in funding per annum to run its national training centre and sustain its services, 80 per cent of which must be raised by the Irish Guide Dogs.