Yarmouth Greyhound Homefinders, Autumn Newsletter 2017

Newsletter

Kennels situated at 51 Cromer Road, Hainford, NR10 3AU (on A140) and are open from 10am until 2pm every day.

Note from the Editor

Welcome to the new look Yarmouth Greyhound Homefinders Newsletter. We have moved to an A5 format in an effort to reduce the postage costs of the 700 issues we send out each time. Simply by moving to A5, we can almost halve the postage cost each time. I hope you like the new size for this Autumn issue!

Thank you to everyone who sends me photos, letters and messages each time the newsletter goes out. To be clear, I’m just the editor and a designer giving up some of my spare time to volunteer for Homefinders. I received a few cheques recently, made out to me, which unfortunately I had to send back to the owners. Please could any donations be made out to Yarmouth Greyhound Homefinders, and sent to the kennels address, 51 Cromer Road, Hainford, NR10 3AU. Some of you may have noticed that the website has also been updated recently. I have made the template responsive, meaning it can be viewed on a mobile easier, as well as making the desktop version wider, and given it a new look. I’d like to point out that this work was carried out with no charge on my behalf, and I also host the website for free on my server.

I hope you and your hounds have enjoyed the summer season. Bella and I did briefly take up agility this summer, I thought it might give her something to focus on and me something to work towards. However she had other plans, and spent most of each lesson doing circuits of the fence around the field! We decided it would be best to leave before we were expelled, and have been going back to basics to try and get a grasp of some easier commands. She may have settled down much more these days, but we still have to be very careful where we can let her off, as her chase/prey drive instinct is so high. But give her an empty park, with no distractions (and a good secure fence all round!) and she does love her off lead moments.

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Issue: 41 - Autumn 2017

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Michele

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Please do continue to send me your news and photos, I can’t make the newsletter without your updates and articles.

Email: michele_storer@hotmail.com or post newsletter items only to: Michele Perry, 25 Vanguard Chase, Costessey, Norwich NR5 0UG

Registered Charity No: 1172132

Co-ordinator’s bit Well summer is almost over, in fact, officially autumn is here. Hope you all had a good fun summer with your hounds. I think mine will be glad of a rest after coming to help on the Homefinders Stall nearly every weekend. Dare I mention the dreaded C word? Well Christmas is just round the corner so don’t forget our Fayre on December 9th 1-3pm at Taverham Village hall.Your hounds are all welcome too, thanks to the kind loan of dog mats by Broadland Dog Training Club. Just a small request if your dog has an accident please can you mop it up, equipment will be there.

Lots happening before then. Fancy an evening out at the stadium, not to watch the greyhounds racing but to see how elegant they are in art and design. Mary Alexander is giving a talk entitled “What a poser!...the greyhound in art and design” on Friday, 20th October at 7pm. Tickets are only £5 including coffee and biscuits. Mary is an excellent speaker and I’m sure everyone will have a good evening. Sunday 1st October sees our final Open Day of the year including our auction. This year we have lots of greyhound memorabilia as you will see elsewhere in the newsletter.

Two more walks left this year too. October 15th at Winterton beach, meet 11am at car park and November 19th at Saxlingham Nethergate followed by soup in the Scout hall. I promise this year I will not make you all paddle through a seasonal stream!!

Our last Newsletter was all about us leaving the Greyhound Trust. Some of you will notice that we now have our own charity number from The Charity Commission so are now completely independent from them. Soon we hope our Gift Aid application will be accepted and we will be able to collect money from the Government on donations.

Already we are benefitting from money raised through owners taking out Petplan Insurance. Don’t forget ordering on line can generate cash for us by you joining Easy Fund Raising, it doesn’t cost you anything and so far we have raised over £50. Join Pets at Home VIP Club ask for you donations to their club to come to us by choosing YGH at Lowestoft (you can shop at any of their branches). Thank you to everyone sponsoring the kennels and donating a monthly amount to us.

If you are on Facebook join our site Successful Homing at Yarmouth Greyhound Homefinders you will find all the extra events on there which come in after publication of the newsletter. Everyone loves to show pictures of their lovely pets and there are often lots of useful tips if you have a problem with your dog.

Corinne

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www.yarmouth-greyhound-homefinders.co.uk

Hetty’s Helpers, Sponsors, Fundraisers It seems Hetty has more and more work to do as more and more people are either joining The Helpers, Sponsoring a Kennel or ordering goods online through EasyFundraising. She is really, really pleased with the generosity of everybody and the way all have rallied round since we became our own charity. Of course, this is taking its toll and Hetty is currently worn out and taking it easy under a cool flannel.

She has asked me to report the following brilliant figures which show the donations since we got our charity number in July.

Hettys Helpers, ie those people that donate by standing order and others who make one off donations, added a great £696.

Kennel Sponsorship has really taken off with 10 of the kennels having sponsors and £1050 being raised. Fantastic. Names of all sponsors are on a board in the kennel they have sponsored. The kennel sponsors are also listed on the website, look in the “Can you help” section at www.yarmouth-greyhound-homefinders.co.uk Hettys Easyfundraisers, ie the 36(current figure) people who order things online through easyfundraising. They have just reached the first £50 donated. The more people involved in this the bigger the donation so if you want to join in just register for free at https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/invite/VLPMI9/LJWT15 and look for Yarmouth Greyhound Homefinders. All that join this way will immediately have a donation added by the site without ordering anything.

Hetty has received a number of lovely items for our Autumn Auction on 1st October including a greyhound themed quilt, a brass greyhound, a greyhound statuette and a pair of ceramic greyhounds. She knows there is more to come so please send any auction item donations to the kennels. For those that missed the photo on Facebook here is the quilt that will be auctioned on October 1st Hetty sends a huge THANKYOU to everybody who has helped in any way.

Telephone: 0845 458 3797

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Letters to the editor Dear Michele, Duke loves his walks, he is loving, We have a great family who love him, and such a celebrity wherever he goes. Had his first trip to the seaside, and seeing him jump in the waves made my heart melt. Duke is definitely one of the family.

Tina Cole Dear Michele, here is Lucca Louise, as you can see she has settled in really well. I feel very lucky to have her, she is a lovely girl, she loves going in the car to visit friends and walk on the beach. She has made doggy friends and my human friends all love her too, she loves running and playing in our large garden.

Love Marrion and Lucca Louise Dear Michele, Piper found his new best friend Betty in June. She has settled in well and loves her toys and home comforts.

Kayleigh-May Clarke

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www.yarmouth-greyhound-homefinders.co.uk

Dear Michele, here is a photo of Asher and Gad enjoying their 6th birthday on holiday in Yorkshire From Sarah & Steve

Hi Michele, Neddie is doing very well and we love having him here. He loves his walks and his dinners and yesterday began wagging his tail more. He comes to greet us when we get home which is lovely. He has fitted in really well and gets on with our other dogs too.

We really are thrilled with Neddie.

He is a joy to be with so I’m just glad you put the photos in the Waveney Ad or we may never have known about your charity.

All the best Greg, Rob and Neddie

Dear Michele, according to Erick (Ericks Messer), there’s not enough beds in the garden, so he uses a flowerbed.

Alana Flynn

Telephone: 0845 458 3797

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From Sofa to 10k – for those racers who just want the sofa! (A sponsorship thanks…)

I just wanted to say a huge thanks to all those who sponsored and cheered me on at the Run Norwich 10k race in early August. Whether they did it in person or online. I didn’t have the just giving page set up at the time of the last newsletter but it is still active at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lindsay-lane - if anyone didn’t get a chance... (worth a try)!

In spite of it being an incredibly hot day to set off on a long, hilly run images of all those greyt, big eyes and lovely long noses kept popping into my head to spur me on! Our girl MayBea came out to support me too – although in the photo at the start she looks more scared than I do, I assure you it was definitely the other way around!

She stayed in the crowd (in the shade, of course) to cheer me on and was really good (apparently)!

Thank you so much to all those who supported – I was blown away by the support from friends, colleagues and hound lovers! I can’t give a complete total, as I still have some items donated that might yet raises some more pennies on sale, but from those lovely people who have sponsored me I got a fantastic £115 in cash and a marvellous £112.43 online! For those who were kind enough to sponsor I also include a picture to prove I did run all the way round to collect my medal! I even completed it in a reasonably respectable time, in spite of being overtaken by two bananas (very fit ones) on Tombland – wish I could have seen our girl’s reaction to them going past her!! Thank you all again!

Lindsay xx Page 6

www.yarmouth-greyhound-homefinders.co.uk

All About Dogs Show We were next to the Volvo stand at the All About Dogs show, we had some fun seeing how many we could get in the back of an estate.

Dogs homed since last newsletter Rusty (Greenisle Rover), Maggie (Farewell Maggie), Oakey (Jura Oakey), Edna (Hack Up Mermaid), Emily (Archaton Diamond), Benny (Perfect Scene), Oliver (Olivers Army), Zak (BeamingJavier), Iris (Eyesontheprize), Spec (BlackroseSpec), Milly (Ballygunner Hero), Benji (Bens the Best), Lilly (Illusion Lilly), Lurcher Lil,Harry (Confident Kewell), Puppies Teddy, Mylo, Dash, Marley and Arlo, Rosie (Teds Eskapist)), Queenie (Sterling Queen), Tommy (Tommy Gun), Lee ( Moors Lee), Jazzy (Jura Jazz), Little Joe (Perfect Godsend), Lass (Hack Up Lass), Buster (Perfect Prospect), Archie (Strike Two), Summer (Woodcocks Summer), Tilly (Princess Tulisa), Twiggy (Rileys Rocket).

Greyhound walking Do you have an odd hour in the morning or afternoon you could spare to walk a greyhound or two round our field? We normally walk at about 10am in the morning and about 1.15pm in the afternoon. We are very short of walkers on Wednesdays, Thursdays and weekends and every afternoon. If you come you will be assured of a warm welcome and a cup of tea or coffee afterwards sometimes a piece of cake too! Just turn up and Molly will show you the ropes.

Telephone: 0845 458 3797

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The Bucket List?

When I retired some 12 years ago, I hadn’t come across the expression “ Bucket List”, but was aware that I had about 23 retirement wishes or intentions. Sadly, many of them have been forgotten or not fulfilled, and so, apart from adopting various little guineapigs over that time (and that’s another story) my Tuesday morning venture took me somewhat by surprise. David and I had noticed, as we travelled along Cromer Road at various times, a notice advertising a Gt.Yarmouth greyhound re-homing centre with a colourful image of a very handsome dog. One day, David dropped me off there, as he went to book a day out for us with Easton’s and I found myself unlatching a heavy metal gate, walking onto a sort of car park, and looking for someone to ask for details. I met Molly, who mainly runs this centre, in a small office. She asked, “What do you want to do then, take one now?” She was very young, pleasant and helpful.

Well, there’s no time like the present, and she offered to get a dog prepared for me, complete with collar and lead, a coat, this being February 2015, and very cold, and a muzzle. She instructed me to walk three times round this meadow, where a group of other volunteers were already, and to take a seaside spade-not to play in the sandpit, but to catch the dogs “offerings” if he “went” and put them over the boundary hedge of vegetation. No little black bag required! I set off, turning left to go round the meadow, only to realise the tide of others were coming the other way, but being left-handed I had an excuse!?

After three very cold circuits, I returned with my lovely friend Pepper, brushed him as instructed, returned him to his pen, praised him, and watched as others gave out doggy treats to all the dogs. By then David had returned, and the friendly group invited us to join them around the wooden picnic table. We all helped ourselves to a hot drink and a couple of biscuits and got to know a few of the folk. One family live just six doors away from us, and we’d never known them before! We understood that we all help, either getting mugs out, boiling the kettle, handing out the biscuits and washing up afterwards, and even baking something now and then! As the weeks passed, and the weather improved, we really looked forward to joining our new-found friends, and learning more about the dogs, and how long some had been at the re-homing centre. A few had been there nearly a year, and some, often the handsome brindle or occasional gold ones, would be re-homed sooner.

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www.yarmouth-greyhound-homefinders.co.uk

The dogs live in pens containing stainless steel dishes for food and water, a basket containing a duvet, throw or re-cycled curtain, and often a toy, and then an outer pen to walk about in and see visitors arriving. A name above each pen gives the dog’s racing name, common name, ie Buster, Spec, date of birth, and date the dog arrived at the centre.

The second week when David and I arrived, the barking of up to 20 excited dogs, really made our hearts thump, and we were really nervous, but gradually, after being helped with getting the dogs ready, and growing in confidence, we have never regretted that first visit. In spring it’s lovely when the five beech trees at the bottom of the meadow come into leaf, and the swallows swoop at our feet as they collect insects. We watch out for baby rabbits, as the dogs have an instinct to run, and we have to be at our strongest to hold onto them and on cold winter days we really wonder what we’ve let ourselves in for! When we see a “reserved! Card above a pen, we’re glad that the dog is to be re-homed and be loved by someone special, and sad when week after week a gentle and handsome dog still looks out hopefully for someone to give him a chance.

The friendship, the concern for these gorgeous animals who are so dependent on people to turn out in all weathers, even on Christmas Day and New Year, the people who organise Open days for vital fund-raising, has been so rewarding and enjoyable, that I wonder why it wasn’t on my bucket list!

Jan Platten

Earlham Park Walk

Telephone: 0845 458 3797

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Spotted

Spotted by Nigel and Sarah Harvey in Shropshire.

The coffee bar welcome dog was outside The Loopy Shrew in Shrewsbury. The other two sculptures were in the Coalbrookedale Iron Museum in the Ironbridge gorge. They were designed and cast in the foundery in the 1800’s. We particularly like the greys at play.

L: Spotted by one of Corinnes friends, Rosehill Cemetery Chicago.

R: Spotted at Great Dorset Steam Fair, by Lindsay & Timothy Lane & MayBea Lane

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www.yarmouth-greyhound-homefinders.co.uk

L: Spotted by Corinne in Bucharest. R: Spotted in (and rescued/bought from) a charity shop

by Deryck Self.

Spotted in the Crowne Plaza hotel in Maldon for an anniversary treat and found ourselves sitting right next to this lovely boy for dinner and his owner for breakfast.

The restaurant had pictures of four different dogs and their owners, all painted by a local artist. We had fun matching the owners to the dogs! - Sarah Harvey

Telephone: 0845 458 3797

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Long Stay Residents

Please also remember Arty who has been with us for18 months and Impey who has been looking for his forever home for a year.

Winter events Sunday 1st October Autumn Open Day 11-2 Auction. 12 noon - at the kennels October 15th Winterton on Sea beach walk.

Meet 11am in Car Park. CafĂŠ at the end of walk.

November 19th Saxlingham Nethergate Playing Field 11am, followed by soup in the Scout Hall.

Saturday 9th Dec Christmas Fayre Taverham Village Hall 1pm - 3.30pm Page 12

www.yarmouth-greyhound-homefinders.co.uk

Yarmouth Greyhound Homefinders Invite you to

“What a Poser!... The greyhound in art And design“ An entertaining evening with Mary Alexander showing greyhounds doing what they love best .. posing centre stage. Lots of new material from the visual arts in some surprising places and poses!

Given by

Mary Alexander

On Friday 20th October, at 7pm The Stadium, Caister on sea

Tickets £5 - Tel: 0845 458 3797 or from the kennels Telephone: 0845 458 3797

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In memory I never thought on that first day I saw you at Hainford in July 2006, that you would brighten my life so much. In David’s words “you were quite lively”! He wasn’t wrong! I heard you barking before I saw you, oops, I thought, he’s loud! Then I set my eyes on you and my heart melted. I took you home the very same day.

I’ve never regretted a single day, you were so loved by everyone that met you my boy.You gave us years of laughter and fun.You were choosy with your hounds friends, Deano being your particular favourite.

You loved your walks, were a little fussy about what you ate, you were feisty, funny, loved to be fussed, so happy if you spotted a squirrel or even better a cat! You loved every human you met, loved a zoomie round the garden, in fact you were positively perfect in every way!

I miss you boy, you were my wonderful, weird, wonky nose, faithful, loyal best friend, you were simply my ‘Buddy boy’ .

Felicity Lefevre

My Magic man 14 and 3 month’s and Gem Gem 10. Gone to rainbow bridge June 2017.

Adored and treasured by everyone - Kim Martin

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www.yarmouth-greyhound-homefinders.co.uk

Capturing your pet’s true personality in natural surroundings.

1 hour photo shoot in a location of your choice within Norfolk for just £30 www.jenniduffin photography.co.uk

07341 831996

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Telephone: 0845 458 3797

Your advert here!

Advertise your business or service, for just £15 per issue.

The newsletter is posted to over 700 households, as well as being available at the Yarmouth Stadium.

Advertising revenue will go towards the postage costs for the newsletter.

Contact: michele_storer@hotmail.com for details.

Payment to be sent to Yarmouth Greyhound Homefinders.

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Christmas cards and calendars This year we have our very own Christmas cards to sell, the paintings part of a set of 4

by Clae Aht Smith. The packs of cards have 5 each of 2 of the paintings, and cost ÂŁ3.75 per pack (includes envelopes).

Our Calendars are also ready to buy. They are A4 wall calendars, with wonderful photographs of some of the greyhounds rehomed this year. The calendars are ÂŁ4.99 each.

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Hopefully sales of both the cards and the calendars will help raise lots of funds for the coming year. We will be selling both on the open day on October 1st, as well as at the kennels.

Yarmouth Greyhound Homefinders

51 Cromer Road, Hainford, Norfolk NR10 3AU Tel: 0845 458 3797 Email: kennels@yarmouthgreyhoundhomefinders.co.uk www.yarmouth-greyhound-homefinders.co.uk Designed and edited by Michele Perrywww.yarmouth-greyhound-homefinders.co.uk of www.px2co.net Design for print and web Page 16 Printed by www.blackwellprint.co.uk