OWNERS of greyhounds, lurchers and other sight hounds are keeping everything crossed that they can finally take part in a global fundraising walk which fell victim to the Covid-19 crisis.
Organisers of the Great Global Greyhound Walk (GGGW) were forced to call off the event in 2020 and have already moved this year’s date back from its usual June slot due to restrictions in place at the time.
A new date of Sunday, September 19, has now been pencilled in and organisers of the dale’s walk, from Hutton Magna Village Hall, are hopeful it will go ahead as planned.
The walk will be the sixth from Hutton Magna.
Co-ordinator Carroll Trevor will once again be joining owners of other hounds with her pet lurcher Amber, who has been in the wars since the last walk in 2019.
Amber is a therapy dog and prior to the pandemic was a familiar sight – along with Mrs Trevor – in nursing, residential and dementia homes as part of the charity Therapy Dogs Nationwide.
“Amber and I have just been told that Therapy Dogs Nationwide can go back to visiting again, but dependent on the nursing homes, obviously.”
Mrs Carroll said she was looking forward to meeting up with other owners of greys, lurchers and sight hounds.
In addition to the hour-long walk, which starts at 10.30am on Sunday, September 19, and follows the footpaths behind Hutton Hall farm, there will be a tombola and cake stall back at the village hall.
Money raised goes to support charities dedicated to the wellbeing of greyhounds.
In previous years, cash raised by the Hutton Magna walks has supported organisations such as the Greyhound Trust, at Merrybent, near Darlington, and Stray Aid, as well as a charity in Spain.
The GGGW was launched 12 years ago. As word spread, walks began to spring up around the world and now take place everywhere from New Zealand to the USA.
As well as raising money, the event aims to raise awareness of how greys, lurchers and sight hounds make good family pets. This year’s theme the colour blue.
A GGGW spokesperson said: “The 2019 walk was another record-breaking, year. We saw more sighthounds than ever, both in the UK and all around the world, joining in. Sadly, GGGW 2020 was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions. The hope for the future is to further increase on numbers and global coverage – with the aim of 10,000 participating hounds.”
For more details of the Hutton Magna walk, contact Carroll Trevor on 01833 627489 or email carroll.trevor@hotmail .com.
