Today was an exciting day at Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind as just over seventy people from around the country came to our Services Information Day held at our Training Centre in Cork.

Guests got to meet our staff and trainers as they listened to talks and demonstrations about our services, from long cane and guide dog training to home skills, gardening and leisure activities. 

Pictured here are Mobility Instructor, Simon Osburne and Training Supervisor, PJ Hogan, demonstrating how a guide dog functions as a mobility partner.

Guests interested in improving their home skills and safety spent time with Mobility Instructors in the newly built Training Kitchen and got the chance to mingle and talk with our staff and trainers about the benefits of our various programmes.

Chief Executive, Padraig Mallon said: “We are delighted that so many people could come and join us. We hope that by making this day as experiential as possible, we have helped potential clients get a clear idea of the skills they could possibly learn and how we can help them improve their mobility and independence."

One of the attendees, Sultan Kabirchakari, said that he found the talks and demonstrations very informative and that he was particularly interested in our Home Skills and Gardening courses - something he didn't realise we offer. 

Padraig added: "Our vision is that more and more people who are blind or vision impaired enjoy greater freedom and independence through the services we offer. This is what today was all about. We wanted to motivate people living with sight loss to take action and learn new skills so that they can enjoy greater mobility and improved quality of life. We hope that by meeting our professional staff, seeing our facilities and finding out how we train, we have demystified the training experience and that more people will sign.  Our services are offered free of charge and as our existing clients testify, the skills they learn are life changing.”

For more information about our services, please view of our services section of this website here.  Alternatively,  contact us on lo-call 1850 506 300 or e-mail info@guidedogs.ie.

View our picture gallery of the event below:

A warm welcome to our guests. Here is our registration team who welcomed guests, from left to right: Christine O'Sullivan (Volunteer), Cliodhna Ni Laoghaire (Client Services) and Elaine Walsh (Reception).