Photograph, 'Guide Dog Goldie'

ID: A white certificate titled “Guide Dog Goldie” with a photograph of a golden retriever puppy underneath. She sits on top of a pile of green and brown autumn leaves in a park. The certificate reads: “Presented to Walton Park T.W.G, Liverpool 1987 in sincere gratitude from the Guide Dogs Association”. This certificate featuring Guide Dog Goldie, a trainee guide dog, was presented as a thank you to Walton Park Townswomen's Guild (T.W.G). The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (known today as Guide Dogs) was established in Wallasey, Merseyside in 1931, by two local women, Muriel Crooke and Rosamund Bond. They organised the training of the first four British guide dogs. As of 2022, 1,217 puppies started their journey to become guide dogs with the charity. Alongside the certificate, a member of the T.W.G, Mrs Flo Smith, and her dog, also named Goldie, were presented with a cheque. The donor, Mrs Ruddock, remembers: “The members of Walton Park Townswomen’s Guild were asked to name this puppy which was born and being trained at the Blind Training Association. We called it Goldie, knowing it would learn to be as faithful as Mrs Smith’s own dog.”