Volunteers of the Month - July 2024 - Sandra & Graham Daynes

Kind-hearted and community-minded to the core, Sandra & Graham Daynes from Bristol are luminaries within Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. They could offer a masterclass in fundraising, however – first and foremost – they are admired and appreciated for being two wonderful human beings that the charity is honoured to have been associated with for almost 20 years.

Graham literally cycled onto the Hearing Dogs scene, with matched funds from Coutts bank, for a cycling event he was involved in back in 2005 and the couple’s zest for charitable giving has never lessened since. Community Fundraising Manager, Cate Jones, tells us more:

"Sandra & Graham are an amazing husband and wife duo whose energy and enthusiasm for a huge diversity of endeavours, over almost two decades, is to be applauded.

They have volunteered and fundraised at a countless number of events, providing the public with fun dog shows and stalls, Sandra's delicious cakes and bakes, and of course raising awareness of our clever dogs and amazing partnerships across the South West. Graham is also a great volunteer speaker, and both are always willing to travel far and wide to support centrally organised activities and events like the Paws Appeal and The Great British Dog Walk.

Even the pandemic didn't slow them down! Sandra wrote a cookbook to raise donations (shared with the hospital where they also volunteer) and Graham became a virtual speaker, resulting in several healthy donations.

They are truly wonderful people whom I feel very lucky to have as volunteers in my area. They’ve raised in the region of £20,000 for Hearing Dogs, and even personally donated £1,000 to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary a couple of years ago.”

Fellow Community Fundraising Manager, Vicky Ryan, endorses these sentiments one thousand percent! “Graham & Sandra are absolute credits to the charity. Earlier this year, they even incorporated helping at both of my Great British Dog Walks into a holiday in each of the two locations! They were the first to arrive, the last to leave and happy to muck in with whatever was necessary to make the day a success. I honestly couldn’t have done it without them!”

Sandra & Graham’s dedication to Hearing Dogs extends far wider than their fundraising activities. Together, they also contribute their time, compassion and support directly to some of our Hearing Dog partnership volunteers.   

Lucybeth Brewer says:   

“When I first started volunteering, they took me under their wing and made me feel welcome. They always check up on me, especially helping me through bereavement - they're my family now, and I've got Hearing Dogs to thank for that.”

Helen-France Baker was also supported through hardship by the Daynes:

“When I had my two eye operations, I managed for the first one, but could not see very well for the second operation as I could not wear my glasses, which led to a fall when I misjudged the road and pavement. When Graham & Sandra heard of this, they came to collect me and insisted I go stay with them for a few days. Graham kindly took my hearing dog Gus for long walks whilst I recovered. These are the type of people they are: always hard working and thinking of others.”

And as if all this wasn’t enough, we recently reached out to Sandra needing a recipe to meet a tight deadline for ‘Paws for Cake, Summer-Themed Recipes’. Sandra immediately responded, sharing her delicious strawberry scone recipe, which is now featured as part of our bonus seasonal bake series. Enjoy!