Volunteer of the Year

At Hearing Dogs' Summer Fayre on Sunday 8 June, Esther Rantzen presented the Desmond Wilcox Volunteer of the Year Award 2008 to joint winners Val & John Corteen and Jan Long. The Award was named in memory of Esther's late husband, the award celebrates the dedication of loyal and hard-working Hearing Dogs' supporters.

Val and John Corteen

Val and John Corteen began puppy socialising for Hearing Dogs in 1999.  During the past nine years they have guided, loved and been totally committed to some 35 hearing dog puppies that have been lucky enough to be in their care.  Some of these have been short-stay puppies, and some of them have been with the Corteens for their entire socialising period – eight months or so.  Some have been dogs that can’t cope in kennels, and others have been holiday cover for another socialiser.  If a hearing dog puppy needs a loving stable home, John and Val are always happy to provide it.  Often they have doubled-up and had two puppies at the same time to help out.

In addition to their dedication to hearing dog puppies, Val and John are always willing to help out at a variety of fundraising events.  They have stood in cold, draughty shopping centres with collecting tins, and in the middle of fields with stalls – all to help raise funds for, and awareness of, Hearing Dogs.  Their enthusiasm has affected the whole family, and their daughter is often asked to take her children to the centre here so that staff can see how puppies interact with children in a supervised setting.

Jan Long

Jan, with the support of her long suffering husband Paddy, has been volunteering for Hearing Dogs since 1998 when she became a puppy socialiser.  She, like the Corteens, guided and helped train many hearing dog puppies until in 2003 she and Paddy relocated to Liskeard in Cornwall.  Distance, however, did not deter Jan from continuing her support of the Charity.  She became a volunteer dog assessor, selecting many young dogs (and often socialising them too) which have gone on to become fully qualified hearing dogs.  She also continued spreading the word about Hearing Dogs, giving talks and fundraising.  Since moving to Cornwall, Jan has also been instrumental in the setting up and running of the satellite puppy socialising scheme in the south west, which is based in Exeter.  She gives invaluable support and encouragement to new socialisers, and is largely responsible for the success of the scheme which has helped develop dogs for the Charity’s Team Dogs project – placing hearing dogs with deaf children.  One of the socialisers whom Jan recruited to the scheme says this about her: “Jan worked very hard to get the scheme off the ground and was always at the end of the phone if we had any queries.  I shall always be grateful to her for her help and guidance.”

For their complete dedication and invaluable support in a variety of volunteering roles, Val and John Corteen and Jan Long are very worthy joint winners of this year’s Volunteer of the Year Award.