Volunteer of the Month - September 2022 - Sally Watson

September-born stellar volunteer Sally Watson must be in an elite, crazy club of people who have signed up to abseil the 100m descent of the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth twice! In both instances, Sally (pictured below, right, with her sister) has raised substantial sponsorship for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People; most recently in lieu of gifts for her 75^th birthday.

This level of zeal and generosity is entirely in keeping with Sally. Since day one of joining Hearing Dogs as a volunteer nearly a decade ago, she has been an exemplary representative for the Charity and an extremely active volunteer, especially in her local community of East Sussex.

Sally understands the purpose of her volunteering from personal experience of living with severe hearing loss. Close friends of Sally and fellow Hearing Dogs volunteers, Lynn and Andy Tofte, recall: “Sally’s first surprise when her Cochlear Implant was ‘switched on’ was hearing her beloved Collie Max’s claws on the floor, then windscreen wipers, electricity above the pylons… “it was incredible” Sally said to Lynn: “I have to do something to give others this chance to open up their worlds.”

And off Sally went, energetically diving straight into fundraising, speaking and organising Hearing Dogs events in a county that had had little representation previously.

She confidently speaks to Round Table groups and WIs alike, manages multiple collection boxes and liaises with any local business who may be able to donate a raffle prize or support the Charity in any way. Sally has scouted great locations for our Great British Dogs Walks and, of course, was heavily involved with the Pets at Home Summer of Fundraising this year - hosting a stand and speaking with members of the public in stores in her area.

As a lead community fundraiser Sally has raised literally thousands through her own ventures, as well as positively assisting with nationwide Hearing Dogs initiatives, and enthusing others to join the cause. She also makes monthly personal donations through our puppy sponsorship scheme to support the training of Pepe, Honey, Jade, Kallie, Vesper, Otis, Bertie and Luna.

However, Sally’s biggest fundraising triumph and what she has become particularly well known for is hosting summer garden parties! Sally advertises and puts on these events from her own home and pulls out all the stops to make the day second-to-none with raffles, tabletop sales, hot and cold drinks, cream teas and other baked goodies available while enjoying her beautiful garden.

Rachel Annetts, Community Fundraising Manager, says: “Sally’s most recent garden party was in July this year. Not only was it a roaring success for attendance, an amazing £1,800 was raised!

What Sally has done for this charity is phenomenal. Tragically, she has lost many people in her group due to death, illness, and disability but she still works so hard to raise the incredible amount of money that she does. I honestly think she is the most selfless person I know.”

Sally has an incredible ability to connect with and inspire people. As a volunteer speaker for Hearing Dogs, she has given countless talks about the work involved in raising and training our dogs and, most importantly, the positive impact a hearing dog can have.

Separately to Hearing Dogs, Sally also volunteers her time to run weekly local lip-reading classes; yet another example of Sally’s genuine selflessness and kindness in providing support for anyone who is deaf or has hearing loss.

It was at one of these classes, many years ago in Bexhill, that Sally met Lindsay and Bernard Mabon. Lindsay remembers: “I had put my name down for a hearing dog so that’s what got Sally interested as I was on a waiting list. She kept asking had I heard anything, and then took matters into her own hands by deciding to raise funds and speed up the process herself! I am now partnered with hearing dog Meg and proud to support Sally at her talks, events and even a car boot sale now and again.”

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People would like to extend huge thanks and appreciation to Sally for this level of engagement and all that she does as a volunteer, representative and leading light of our organisation. There’s really not many who can engage, shine and inspire so brightly in their communities as her. She is a one-woman dynamo, to whom we are incredibly grateful.