Allerton Bywater dog-lover named as Volunteer of the Year by leading charity Support Dogs

Zoe Helm won the award after volunteering as a puppy socialiser for the past two years, helping to turn unruly pup Peggy into a life-saving assistance dog of the future by giving her the very best start in life.

Support Dogs trains assistance dogs for children and adults with autism, epilepsy and physical disability, enabling them to lead safer, more independent lives.

The charity relies on a small army of volunteer puppy socialisers to look after its pups until they are old enough to start training at the age of 15 months.

Along with offering them a loving home, puppy socialisers are also expected to provide basic training and attend puppy classes at Support Dogs’ national training centre in Sheffield.

As well as being a puppy socialiser, and despite having a busy career as an operations manager for a property investment education company, Zoe has found the time to attend numerous corporate and community events on behalf of Support Dogs with Peggy, and is extremely active on social media, where she promotes the charity’s work.

Peggy has now moved into full-time training and Zoe is now looking after new puppy Skye. She also stepped in to provide emergency care for another puppy, Chuck, for several weeks.

Zoe said: “I’d really recommend being a puppy socialiser to other dog lovers.

"It’s such a rewarding process and seeing how the dogs have helped families gain their independence back is indescribable.

"Peggy was my little shadow and came to most places with me. She was a very quick learner and I loved watching her progress. Skye is very different to Peggy, but I think she is going to make a brilliant support dog as she is so keen to learn and loves her food!

“The award means a lot – it means a great deal to be recognised, and it’s been a pleasure helping to raise much-needed funds for such a fantastic charity.”

Rita Howson, chief executive of Support Dogs said: “Without volunteers we couldn’t do what we do turning puppies into life-saving assistance dogs. We’re very grateful for all our volunteers, and Zoe in particular, thoroughly deserves to be our Volunteer of the Year.”