Legacy sponsored assistance dogs

A gift in your Will of any size, large or small, will make such a difference to the lives of people with disabilities who are still waiting for the gift of independence. Let your legacy be a gift for life.

Helen and Canine Partner Yancey – is fully supported by a £20,000 legacy.

Helen Smith was partnered with Yancey 3 years ago. Yancey’s training was made possible by a lady called Pauline, who left a gift in her Will to Canine Partners. “I was just 22 years old when I lost all of my limbs to meningococcal septicaemia which is the blood poisoning form of meningitis. One day I was absolutely fine the next I was facing life with a serious disability. It took several years for me to recover and learn to walk again but despite having state of the art prosthetics there were many things I still couldn’t do.

If I dropped something, it would stay there until someone else picked it up for me. If I wanted to take off my coat I had to ask someone else…so when I saw a dog doing just these things for another disabled person I decided that I would love to get one too. Every day, Yancey comes with me to work. I really can not imagine my life without her. As well as picking up things which I drop, which is often, Yancey is a great distraction, instead of hearing “look at that lady” being shouted by children I now hear “wow look at that dog”.

In so many ways she has greatly improved my life, and when times have been tough she has always been there for me with her wet nose and waggy tail to cheer me up. Yancey is, and always will be, one in a million and I am so grateful to the lady whose kind donation trained her.”
Photo courtesy of Karen Parker

Anne's Gift

Canine Partners was founded in 1988 (and later registered as a charity in 1990) by Anne Conway and Elizabeth Ormerod BVMS, MRCVS. Anne Conway sadly died in 2004 after many years of hard work and raising awareness of the charity. However, not only did Anne leave Canine Partners a very successful charity as a legacy of her work, but she also chose to leave a gift of £10,000 in her Will to Canine Partners. This gift has enabled us to train a beautiful Golden Retriever called ‘Conway’ in her memory, and we are delighted to announce that Conway graduated this year with his Partner, who is rather appropriately also called Anne!

Anne Ridley, who has Multiple Sclerosis, is absolutely delighted with him and says "Conway is a very special dog, he does so many things for me – takes my coat off after a walk, opens doors, picks up things for me, pays at the checkout in the supermarket, gets the washing out of the machine and so much more. He even does things for me without me needing to ask. He’s a big treasure. I don’t remember life without him." Anne also said with a big smile that when he sleeps his tongue hangs out of his mouth, which we think is wonderful!

Remember, leaving a gift to Canine Partners can also reduce the amount of inheritance tax your family will have to pay on your estate.

David's Gift

Last year breakdown mechanic David left a wonderful gift in his will to Canine Partners, along with 12 other charities close to his heart.

David joined the Automobile Association (AA) in 1956 as a motorcycle patrol on breakdowns. In 1969 he moved to Edinburgh, continuing to work for the AA until he retired aged 63 with 40 years' service.

His sister Jean said: "He was proud of the work he did and received an incredible number of letters of commendation from satisfied members, not only for his skills, but for the service he had given. The Calvinistic work ethic was very much a part of him, and he really was dedicated to the AA. He was encouraged many times to apply for promotion. However, he was happiest as a foot-soldier with the one-to-one contact with the members. He was a very skilled mechanic, and his desire to help continued after his retirement when it was his neighbours, family and friends who benefited from his friendly helpfulness. He also said he would rather leave legacies to charities than 40% of the capital go to pay inheritance tax. He liked to help others and loved animals, and knew the comfort and company they could be to their owners."

David's generous gift in his will is already helping Canine Partners to support more people with disabilities.

We have produced an easy to read booklet to help you if you are thinking of including a gift to Canine Partners in your Will. For a free copy of our Will-making pack or to discuss the difference your gift could make please contact Cat Harvey on 01730 716018 or email us

Canine Partners for Independence. Registered in England No. 2516146. Charity Commission Registered No. 803680. Scottish Registered Charity No. SCO39050