An independent charity in Wandsworth have started a new type of pawsome fundraiser, to raise vital funds needed to fight the pandemic.
Age UK Wandsworth have organised a dog walking fundraiser, called the Waggy Walk, in which you can raise money on your daily dog walk.
Dogs across London are sporting their Age UK bandanas, spreading the word for the charity.
Emma Chisholm, Community and Wellbeing Leader at Age UK, believes this to be a vital fundraiser in helping the elderly in Wandsworth.
She said: “A lot of people during the pandemic have got dogs, myself included, and we wanted to keep up with what people are doing at the moment, which is walking in the great outdoors.
“Fundraising, if it isn’t fun, can be a chore, and that’s why we wanted to do something fun and engaging.”
Credit: Emma Chisholm
Age UK directly support over 2,500 old people in Wandsworth, with the demand only growing due to the pandemic, which caused the charity to completely change the way they operated.
The charity started an emergency food parcel delivery service in Wandsworth Town Hall in partnership with the council that delivered over 3500 parcels in the first lockdown.
Age UK also introduced an active chat service to tackle the issue of inactivity and isolation among older residents.
Chisholm added: “We deal with preventing a crisis from happening, but actually in the first lockdown there was a crisis and we had to respond to it.
“We were getting phone calls from people who hadn’t eaten for days, which you think in a city like London where we are all living so close together someone would be there to help.”
Amanda Egan, 57, a writer from Putney, is taking part in the Waggy Walk with her dog Alfie.
Egan said: “I lost my mum five years ago and she was a ‘Be-a-Friend’ Volunteer.
“Even though she was in her 70s and 80s she was still volunteering for Age UK to be a friend for other elderly people. I couldn’t think of a better charity to support in her memory.”
Egan has set herself and Alfie the challenge of doing a different route of Putney Heath every day in April.
If you would like to take part in the Waggy Walk, click here.
Featured Image Credit: Amanda Egan
