I'm an academic, mother of two, foodie and travel enthusiast; and I'm also registered blind due to a degenerative eye condition. 4.5 years ago my life changed when I met my amazing guide dog Lassie for the very first time. She has given me back independence and confidence to venture out on my own. 

Lassie is always by my side whether I give classes, attend meetings, do school runs, go to conferences or have a day out in London. She particularly loves weaving through crowds. Lassie has traveled across Europe with me and is confident no matter where she needs to work. She is also probably one of the best educated dogs as she has attended endless lectures and academic conferences.  She is very popular with my students and colleagues as she never fails to fill a room with positivity with her ever-wagging tail. 

To give back to the amazing charity that made this all happen, I volunteer as a fundraiser, campaigner and speaker for Guide Dogs - of course always with Lassie wagging her tail right next to me. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, many collections and speaker events had to be cancelled. So we decided to walk our socks of instead. 

Lassie and I will walk 70,000 steps during the week commencing 18th May. This is more than what we would usually do together with her working. We'll use our daily exercise walk to get these steps in and also walk around the house and garden together. 

Please support us in this. Any donation helps to provide vital support for blind and visually impaired people across the UK. Guide Dogs doesn't just train these amazing dogs but also supports children with sight loss and provides other essential services to the visually impaired community. 

We really appreciate your support - whether you live int he UK or not. In turn, I'll post updates with cute pictures of Lassie.