Members of the Homes team were humbled this week when they presented a cheque to three heroes from the Hounds For Heroes charity. Allen Parton, the charity’s founder, together with his two infamous dogs – EJ and Rookie – visited the Homes Petersfield office to receive the donation as part of the Homes 2021 community engagement campaign.
Charlie Barr, Homes’ Joint MD said “As soon as they arrived, we were just spellbound by the incredible intelligence, intuition and sensitivity of Allen’s canine companions. What they and the other assistance dogs, which Allen’s team train up at their local base in Ramsdean, do for disabled ex-UK Armed Forces and Emergency Services personnel is truly remarkable.”
Pictured here is Allen, closely flanked by EJ and Rookie, with Charlie Barr and Rob Barr holding the cheque, plus Ollie Williams, Olesia Turkot and Imogen Wade Palmer standing behind Allen.
Hounds For Heroes was founded by Allen Parton 11 years ago with support from the local community and has rapidly grown into the nationally recognised charity that it is now. Allen said “Today’s cheque presentation in Petersfield was especially poignant for me on so many levels – it was EJ’s 5500th media engagement on behalf of the charity and it is incredibly humbling to have the staunch support of a local and caring company such as Homes. Days like this are a clear reminder how lucky and so very privileged we are to be based in a country that wears its heart on its sleeve, brought so clearly into focus today by this incredible donation from Homes.”
Allen’s own extraordinary story is about one man’s determination to recover from a horrific military incident in the Gulf back in 1991 and then, against the odds, set out to help others in a similar position to his own. He spent 5 long years in hospital and then, whilst going through rehabilitation, he bonded with Endal, a trained yellow Labrador who, he says, was entirely responsible for leading him back into life.
With over 900,000 injured and disabled service personnel in the UK today, the challenge for Hounds For Heroes is enormous, but Allen and his team just face this with undaunting commitment and dedication.
For more details on this amazing organisation, go to www.houndsforheroes.com
