Guide Dogs NSW and ACT is not just about well-trained Labradors, according to Orientation and Mobility Instructor Deena Richards.
Ms Richards and fellow instructor Rowan Kimberg took to Tweed City Shopping Centre last week for their annual education display.
The pair, along with several of the 35–40 clients they are currently working with in this area, were on hand to educate the general public about just what the service offers.
However, there was a bit of confusion, with some shopping centre patrons wanting to make donations.
“That is a different arm of the organisation,” Ms Richards laughed.
“We are about information, not donations.
“A lot of people think we are just about Guide Dogs but that’s only about five per cent of what we do. We have lots of other different mobility aids to help people get around safely.”
She said their current local case load includes a gentleman of 95, right down to a young toddler, and every age in between.
Working with the two-year-old includes playing games with him involving a ball on a stick and getting him used to pushing something out in front of him, in preparation for using a cane.
She said, as a child gets older, the group may help with orientation at their school and may even have someone come and talk to the class to help educate them.
