Suzuki Club - Kent 21st September

Every year the Suzuki Club - Kent go on a “pet food run” collecting donations and food which they give to their nominated charity. This year they decided to nominate Sittingbourne Retired Greyhound Trust.

A few of the members arrived at the kennels eager to walk the dogs, drink lots of tea and dive into the biscuits. Brian, Steve, Paul and Graham stayed at the kennel for a few hours chatting and walking some of the retired dogs. They raised £134.60 on their way to the kennels. A big THANK YOU to them from all at the RGT.

THANK YOU

Challock Goose Fair 14th September

For once Bill and myself were not the last to arrive. We had the trailer delivered so all we needed to do was unload the merchandise etc and we were ready. We decided to take one of our new additions to the kennel, Lady. She was really excited when we picked her up unlike April who had seen it all before and was very laid back. The fair couldn’t have been on a better day, it was like summer and oh yes of course this was our summer. As far as we know there has been a fair on the site for many years. It seems to have grown more popular. There were craft stalls, cake stalls, fairground rides, dog show, farm animals and classic cars. Something for everyone. We were joined by the Gibbs family with Honey, who like April was very laid back and just could not wait to get to work, looking pretty. Mark, Julie, Bugsy and of course Wellington who by now knew the drill, he even met some other bassets….he’ll be forming a club soon. In the afternoon Doreen and David with Evie joined us. We had lots of interest with people wanting to see the greyhounds and find out more about them. It is still surprising the misconceptions people have and that they do make excellant pets and are becoming more and more popular. Attending events such as the Goose Fair are excellant because people can see what they are like first hand and also it helps to socialise the dogs as well.  We had a brilliant day, even met Bonzo who was one of our dogs we homed in our first year. He was a little greyer but looked very well. To see some of the dogs that we have homed and how they are getting on is really satisfying and that is what it is all about. Below are some pictures of the our day at Challock………Enjoy

 All set up and ready, Bill with Phil, Melissa, Belinda, Justin, Julia, with Lady and Wellington looking on. 

 Phil and Belinda in full flow….their getting good at this, Julia is too.

                  Bugsy and Bonzo looking very handsome 

April, Wellington and Honey never miss food on offer, it’s the perk of the job.

Some of the neighbours

Some of the other attractions

All the fun of the fair

Evie taking it in her stride, she’s seen this all before too.

Wellington, you’ve got no chance of April moving…… then again…..you leave your bean bag for a few minutes and someone moves in.

Lady and Phil taking a rest and Melissa and April, who has now pinched Honey’s bed. I think that’s what they call musical dog beds!

Time to find the refreshment tent…………… now where were we…..spot the trailer!

 A GOOD DAY

Museum of Kent Life 24th & 25th August

It was a great setting for an event and it looked like the two days were gong to be busy.The Cobtree Country Fayre included arena displays including heavy-horse demonstration, terrier racing, and an extraordinary falconry show with a static display all weekend long, as well as sheep dog demonstrations with ducks and a fun dog competition, there were over 30 stallholders, a bouncy castle and face painters.

We were nestled on the hill inbetween the falcons and ferrets, the dogs didn’t seem to mind at all. We took April and were joined by Leslie and Ben, The gibbs family with Honey and some new comers Mark and Julie who brought along Bugsy and Wellington the Honoury greyhound, also joing us were Arlene, Alice and Disa. The first day saw some rain but that did not deter the visitors and the second day was even busier. We met many people all wanting to see the greyhounds. We even had another visit from our ex residents Roccoe and Luke, with another new visitor Sid. All were welcome. It was hard work for the dogs, looking pretty and handsome all day long but they loved it, doing what greyhounds do best, lazing around.  

Below are some pictures from the day.

               We’re ready                                 The old gang plus some newcomers

   

            Some visitors                                     Sid, Rocco and Luke

    Two newcomers:-     Wellington and Bugsy, showing off his rosette     

       Spotted some treats on offer………. so have we………….Tea up                  

    April and Honey can’t see what all the fuss is about…….and Bugsy

    is just showing off now.

Dogs Trust Fun Day - Canterbury 10th August

For the Dogs Trust Fun day we decided to take Nina and Nelly, two of our recent residents in the kennel.  They both enjoyed meeting new people and other dogs, we also had a visit from some of our ex residents who came along to say hello.

A big thank you to Leslie and Ben who came along to help out together with Melissa, Belinda, Phil and Honey, who by now have all become old hands at this, Newcomer, Arlene who came along to support us, so many thanks and hope she will be a regular.

The weather was superb and it really felt like summer, it was going to be a busy day. We had a lot of interest and also gave out a lot of information. There was a fun dog show in which some of our ex residents Rocco and Luke entered and came away with some nice rosettes. The fly ball was fun to watch and I’m sure Nina and Nelly would have joined in if they could. There were various other attractions and activities such as face painting, arts and crafts even bonio icing, something for everyone, so all in all the day was a great success and we thank the Dog’s Trust for inviting us. Below are some pictures of our day at the event.

Nina and Nelly waiting to meet the public                       Starting to get busy

All meeting up again                                                     Watching all the dogs

Watching the dog show                                                 Getting some interest

Ben taking a rest                                                             Nina making friends

Time for a break                                                      Nelly watching the show

Riverside Country Experience 6th July

It started off ok weather wise but as the day wore on it changed. It became quite wet and windy which did some what discourage people from attending. But in true style the old gang braved it. As you can see from the picture above Honey and Ben have become old hands at this. The day went quite well and we all enjoyed ourselves even though we ended up a little soaked. Many thanks to the people that braved the weather and of course our volunteers. We will be back next year and perhaps the sun will shine.

What a handsome boy             I’m not going to look

Companion Dog Show - Sittingbourne 29th June

It was a lovely sunny day, we had a good pitch, right in front of the arena. We took along Ben and Millie from the kennels and Honey and another Ben were there to lend a hand as well. We met all different breeds of dog and Ben and Millie enjoyed saying hello. Anne entered Minnie in the fancy dress section as Gypsey Rose Lee and came away winning. We were busy throughout the day with people visiting our tent and we gave out a lot of information. A big thank you to the Gibb family, Leslie and Anne for coming along to help us.

Below are some pictures of our day at the show.

Getting busy                               Belinda,Leslie,Honey & Ben Ben being pampered

Bill talking to Honey              Honey greeting a fellow greyhound and deep in thought

Adjust my collar please              Scratch that side                and this side

One of the competitors               Some friends too                I see you

Millie relaxing                                       Ben and Millie Ben being pampered

The judging begins                              Anne and Minnie Minnie wins first prize

The Flora London Marathon is being held on 13th April 2008 and Alvin Melville from Maidstone is running to help raise funds for us.

Alvin completed the marathon in 4 hours and 57 minutes, congratulations Alvin, well done and a big thank you to everyone that sponsored him.

The total amount raised by Alvin in sponsorship was £1250.00

Keep an eye out for our advert on the back of the Arriva buses.

Win a Car Competition Result
This competition closed on 11th May 2008

The correct order that was picked in advance of the competition start date by the promoters

‘World Wide Hole in One Ltd’ was :-

                                                                No. 5 - Deer Hound

                                                                No. 11 - Sloughi

                                                                No. 3 - Blood Hound

                                                                No. 9 - Pharoah Hound

                                                                No. 2 - Basenji

                                                                No. 7 - Greyhound

The promoters have checked all the forms and unfortunately there were no correct entries.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Caffyns of Tunbridge Wells for sponsoring this competition which raised £525 for the Sittingbourne Retired Greyhound Trust.

Thanks go to everyone that entered this competition for their support.

2nd Anniversary Charity Night (9th May 2008)

Sittingbourne RGT’s 2nd Anniversary Charity night on 9th May 2008 saw a record crowd of just under 2000 people who came along to support us and the total raised for the evening was £5029.16.
70 Retired Greyhounds some of whom were PAT Dogs (Pets As Therapy Dogs) and Medway Greyhound Support members as well as our own were in attendance and there were two parades to show our appreciation of the people that had homed them and to help raise awareness that greyhounds make great pets.
The families of the retired greyhounds in attendance were delighted that some of the trainers took time out to go down to see them.
It was noted that the greyhounds recognised the trainers and were pleased to see them again.

The South East Afghan Racing Club came along once again to support us and put on a very entertaining race which was won by ‘Twiggy’.
We are greatful to the Club for supporting us time and time again and for helping to make the evening as enjoyable as possible. (Photo’s to follow shortly)

It was nice to see Noreen and Ann from the Mildenhall RGT on the evening who took time out from their busy schedule to come along and offer support, thanks Ann and Noreen!

Caffyns of Tunbridge Wells sponsored the chance for people to win a brand new £10,000 Vauxhall Agila and we will be announcing if somebody has won it shortly.
Many thanks to Chris Loveys and everyone at Caffyns for their generous support.

One of the many highlights of the evening was the ‘Super Hero’ race which consisted of some of the Kennel Hands and Stadium Staff dressing up as ‘Batman’, ‘Superman’, ‘Bananaman’, ‘Spiderman’, ‘Mr Incredible’ and ‘Buzz Lightyear’ to run a 199m flat race, but what they didn’t know until just before the race was that they had to do the last 100 odd yards on a ‘Space Hopper’!
‘Bananaman’ slipped into the lead and won the race but to me the star of the show was ‘Buzz Lightyear’ who had to be carried across the line still sitting on the space hopper by Bill Buckley and Tony Killingbeck!
We would like to thank all the participants of the Super Hero Race for being great sports and I’m sure they will all be looking forward to what we dream up for them to do next year!!

We would like to thank The Stadium and their Staff for all their hard work and continued support.

A BIG THANK YOU also to all the Sponsors of the evening and to everyone that came along to help us celebrate and make the evening a great success.

Below is the video for the Super Hero Race and Alvin Melville’s cheque presentation for £1250
Photos of the evening will follow shortly.

Super Heros Line Up For The Fun Race

Banana Man Wins The Race

Here are some pictures from the evening: