Last February, Tanya Schleich, set up a fund with us in order to train a puppy in her late mother’s memory. Maureen Fox was one of the first female journalists to work in the Examiner newsroom when she joined the team as a copywriter in 1970. She was an animal lover and she played a large part in creating awareness for the work that we do. She passed away on December 17th 2010.

Tanya chose a puppy called “Roxy” a Labrador / Golden Retriever who is currently being puppy walked by Anne Renshaw and set about fundraising for Roxy’s training. 

Tanya says “My mum was a great lover of wearing hats! I wanted to do a fundraiser for Roxy as it's coming up to the first anniversary of her passing. I thought I would make the connection between Mum and Roxy by hand knitting some lovely hats, so by keeping ears warm and cosy, I can help fundraise towards Roxy's training”

Tanya’s hard work has resulted in the creation of a beautiful selection of individual hats. They will be sold at our National Headquarters and Training Centre on Sunday December 4th as part of our Christmas celebrations. Tanya will be here selling a limited number of the hats which retail at €15. All proceeds will go directly to Puppy Roxy’s training. Below are some photo's of Tanya’s hats.

A selection of hats made by Tanya Schleich who has set up a fund for a puppy in training called Roxy. All proceeds from the sale of Tanya\'s hats will go toward this fund. Each hat retails at only €15.

Tanya and puppy Roxy Tanya is pictured with puppy Roxy next to a Christmas tree decorared with some of Tanya's knitted hats.

On that day our Centre will be open to the public from 12pm for tours and people can also purchase Christmas Trees as well as our Cards and Calendars.  Santa will also be here from 1:30 to meet all the boys and girls and will be bringing each a special gift (tickets cost €10 per child). We'll also be open to the public on Dec 10th/11th and Dec 17th/18th.  We'll post full details of these activities shortly.

Roxy is a photogenic puppy. Here is a selection of some of her images.

A sleepy looking puppy Roxy is pictured next to Puppy Rory. Both are being held by Sean Gallagher on a visit to our National Headquarters and Training Centre earlier this year.

Roxy will begin her early training to become a guide dog or an assistance dog next April. If you would like to donate to her training, please click here.