Many of you have already generously supported my fundraising efforts for Hearing Dogs over the last year. I greatly appreciate your support and I know that every single contribution helps another deaf person to live a more independent and safer life.

Samson has now been living with us for a few months and is settling into his role. The highlight of his day is when he gets to leap on top of me as soon as the alarm clock goes at 06:30. I suspect he knows that I can't actually hear the alarm clock because he also cheats a bit and occasionally wakes me up when HE thinks it's time to get up, even if the alarm hasn't gone off...

Although his favourite things are 1. eating, 2. eating, 3. eating and 4. sleeping (and 5. eating), he is always ready to leap up and tell me the kitchen timer has gone or someone is at the door. It has taken more training on my part than I had perhaps expected, but with persistence, he is now performing the jobs he is trained for and is making me feel far more secure (particularly at night and when I'm alone) as I know he'll listen out for me. I'm doing what I can to give other deaf people  this opportunity and security, and if you are able to help a little in this endeavour, that would be fabulous. :) This time I'm running the Cardiff Half Marathon on 14 October.

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