FOUR guide dog puppies met shoppers in the Brunel Centre on Saturday to help drum up volunteers and donations for Swindon Guide Dogs.

The pups went for a walk around the town centre with their walkers, before taking up a post alongside some fully-trained adult guide dogs at a stall in the centre.

As well as meeting the dogs, people could also leave donations in collection buckets and find out more about volunteering in roles, such as puppy walking and fundraising.

Barbara Clark, a puppy training supervisor for Swindon Guide Dogs, said there had been interest from people thinking of joining the branch and becoming a puppywalker.

She said: “It’s a promotion to gain more volunteers within our local branch and also to find more puppywalkers locally and fundraise, because we aren’t Government-funded, it’s funded by voluntary donations.”

Puppy walkers provide basic social training for future guide dogs from the ages of seven weeks to 14 months. All the food and vets bills are paid, but people must have the time to volunteer.

Seasoned puppy walker Rachael Lee, of Coleview, said: “The benefit is there’s nothing to pay for us but there’s the enjoyment of having a dog in the house and having a puppy every year.”

Anyone who is interested in becoming a volunteer should contact 0845 371 7771 or email volunteer@guidedogs.

org.uk.