National charities, Canine Partners and Help for Heroes have joined forces to help wounded servicemen and women. These brave individuals benefit from having a highly trained assistance dog perform everyday tasks that they may find difficult, painful or impossible.

Canine Partners have been training assistance dogs since 1990 for people with a wide range of disabilities, and Help for Heroes was set up in 2007 to help wounded service personnel returning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Their joint expertise is combined with their desire to improve the lives of people who have been injured in the service of their country. 

Sara - I work for Canine Partners as a dog trainer, teaching & providing the dogs with the skills they need to improve & assist people with disabilities, injuries or disorders in all aspects to help give people an independent way of living.

Having worked for Canine Partners for several years, I have had the honour & privilege of seeing first hand the difference of how having a Canine Partner can transform a person's life. Every applicant to Canine Partners is unique with their disability & as a charity, Canine Partners will work with that individual to find out their personal needs & requirements. Personally, I love nothing more than being able to teach their specifically matched dog the tasks & skills to make their life easier & better.

Mike (Sara's partner): I am an injured veteran of the Royal Air Force Regiment after I was injured by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2008. The charity Canine Partners is close to my heart for a couple of reasons. I have seen how Canine Partners has changed the life of some of my more seriously injured colleagues by providing them with a Canine Partner with the ability to undertake tasks which most people might take for granted as well as a lovable companion. Also, as Sara loves to 'bring her work home' with her, my weekends are often filled with 'Canine Partner Puppies in training' roaming around my house looking cute whilst Sara teaches them more personal home tasks!