Young animal lover scoops national award for her fantastic fundraising

A young animal lover has won an award from Support Dogs for her fantastic fundraising efforts on our behalf.

When Sydney Hart, aged 12, found out about our work with people with epilepsy, autism and disability, she decided she wanted to do something to help.

The youngster decided on an indoor fete at her home in Bristol, set a date and started advertising her event with her friends and their families.

She organised games, competitions and a tombola, with a top prize for the person wearing the most blue outfit, in respect to the colour on the charity’s logo (everyone wore something blue!)

Her hard work raised almost £220 for the charity, which trains assistance dogs for children with autism and adults with epilepsy and physical disability, enabling them to lead safer, more independent lives.

Proud dad Toby says: “Sydney picked the games, set the price of each activity, organised the prizes, put posters up and hosted the day, concluding with a speech on the work the charity does and the improvement on people’s lives that the dogs bring.

“Sydney is an animal lover with a really big heart. When she found the Support Dogs website she instantly loved the cause and was determined to contribute to their good work.

“We all had a great time. There was much laughter, some very competitive participation from the kids and their parents and increased awareness in this amazing charitable and worthwhile cause."

Sydney received the Support Dogs' Young Fundraiser of the Year Award at our annual awards and graduation ceremony in Sheffield, which she attended with her dad and mum Jenny.

Fundraising manager Danny Anderson said: “We’re so grateful to Sydney for her fantastic efforts on our behalf. We rely completely on the generosity on the public to fund our life-transforming work, and to receive such a big donation from such a young person is remarkable.”