Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity. Vale Hope, a very special and much loved girl. She was my second guide dog and was only at my side for 17 glorious months. I was blessed and lucky to have had such a special, loving, fun, beautiful girl at my side keeping me safe. What can I say about Vale? There's so much to say about her even though she was only with me for a short time. Shortly after my choir (Open Arts Community Choir) had finished competing in the BBC1 TV show Last Choir Standing, Vale was diagnosed with cancer (Lymphosarcoma). Vale was the star of the show and as you see her picture is of Vale wearing her purple scarf which was made by the wardrobe crew in London. Everyone Vale knew she brought love, happiness and joy to their hearts especially mine. Everyone Vale met, she won their hearts with her beauty, gentleness and desire to work. It was a shock when she retired because of her cancer, but I was supported by the staff here in Guide Dogs Northern Ireland. Whenever I needed anyone, they were always there. Vale was so much loved by everyone, and she was taken good care of during her treatment and her last months before being helped over the rainbow bridge by the staff here at Guide Dogs and Earlswood Veterinary Surgery. While Vale was stillreceiving treatment, my third dog Zeta came along and we were trained on a one to one basis. This allowed me to take time out if I needed too and if I needed to talk I could talk to my instructor. My Zeta worked for 6 years and she also helped me achieve so much. My biggest achievement was being able to walk on and off stage with Zeta in 2010. I was taking my performance exam, and so I performed a recital for an audience. Zeta took me on stage, found the piano, faced me in the right direction and then took me off stage again. This might seem like a small thing to some people, but for me, it was a huge thing. It meant I didn't need to rely on someone sighted to guide me. I could have the same experience as my class mates and walk on and of stage independently with my dog at my side. It was because of this and because Zeta saw me through grieving for Vale as well as having her own health issues, which were her allergies, that she won an award. In 2013, she won the category Outstanding work at the Guide Dog of the year awards ceremony. Zeta also had Vale as a middle name. It was one way I kept her memory alive and it suited her. Now she has retired to a wonderful friend where she is happy and I now have Debbie my fourth dog. I have made it my mission to do all I can to keep Vale's memory alive in as many ways as I can. I have made an album that I recorded in her memory called A Vale of Stars, which is the name of this page. I called it this because Vale was a star. I called her a star as did many others. Vale means Valley, so A Vale of Stars was therefore the most fitting name for my album. Vale has had a justgiving page now for over 6 years, but this is her new page. The reason for setting up a new page in Vale's memory is because her old page even though it's linked to Guide Dogs UK, we can't seem to be able to link it so that the money raised would go to the team here in Northern Ireland. We were hoping that we could get her original page to link to our Belfast Central Guide Dogs Fundraising Branch's page, which is the branch which I am the organiser of, but the page was too old. Setting up this new page will enable us to ensure that any money raised in Vale's memory from now on, will go to Guide dogs in Northern Ireland and will stay here. I wanted this to happen from the start, but back then it couldn't be done. Now there's a chance to make it happen. Vale belonged here in Northern Ireland,. It's important for me to give back to my team. I love all the volunteering I do for them because no matter how much I do, I want to do more. I'll always owe my team because they gave me Zeta and now Debbie. Keeping the money raised in Vale's memory here in Northern Ireland is one way of keeping her memory alive and a perfect way to constantly be giving back to the team who have and still support me. Without this team, I'd not be doing what I'm doing, I'd not have a life, I'd not have had the support if Vale had have gone through this somewhere else. I have a guide dog thanks to the team here, and I know it's with this team I belong. We are a big family and we all work together to make a difference to other blind and partially sighted people's lives. I will continue to do all I can to support them in their work and I'll always be at their side helping to make that difference. Thank you to everyone in team Guide Dogs Northern Ireland for everything they've done and are continuing to do for me. Thank you to Earlswood for continuing to care for all the guide dogs that go through their doors, but most of all for loving and caring for my beautiful, much loved and missed Vale.