Charity of the Month - Medical Detection Dogs

We are very excited to be supporting Medical Detection Dogs as our charity of the month throughout May!

You may have heard Medical Detection Dogs recently in the news, as they are currently looking into whether man’s best friend could play a role in preventing the spread of Coronavirus.

Medical Detection Dogs will be working in partnership with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Durham University. Together they have started preparations to intensively train dogs to help provide a rapid, non-invasive diagnosis towards the tail end of the epidemic, and approached government about how dogs can play a role in the fight against the disease. Once trained, dogs could also be used to identify travellers entering the country infected with the virus or be deployed in other public spaces.

These are the six noses that could soon be trained to detect if someone has COVID-19 and play a vital role in preventing further spread of the pandemic in future.

Medical Detection Dogs trains dogs to detect the odour of other human disease, including Cancer, Malaria and Parkinson’s, as well as helping to support people on a daily basis with other life-threatening problems like type 1 diabetes and severe allergies.

This charity has been chosen by our lovely Amy in customer care. Here's what she has to say about it:

"Medical Detection Dogs is very close to my heart as my brother was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was only 12. Unlike type 2 diabetes, type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in childhood and is not associated with excess body weight. It is controlled with insulin injections or an insulin pump, and cannot be controlled without taking insulin, rather than being controlled with tablets or diet as with type 2 diabetes.

My brother passed away 5 years ago, when he was only 23, after catching a stomach bug that sent his blood sugar levels dangerously high, sending him into a diabetic coma.

Like a lot of people who have type 1 diabetes, including my brother, they are not always able to tell when their blood sugar levels go too high or too low and so aren’t able to take the necessary steps to get it back to a safe level. Using their amazing sense of smell, dogs can be trained to identify minute odour changes emitted prior to an emergency like this and alert the person to take preventative action. Saving someones life.

We heard about the life-changing work of Medical Detection Dogs, not long before my brother passed away. My brother was always very adventurous, he loved the outdoors and was always very independent. He thought the work of Medical Detection Dogs was amazing, not only giving people back their independence and helping them lead a more normal life, but also providing much needed companionship, especially for children, who may be feeling alone and scared in what they are dealing with.

They are an excellent charity and by assisting people with their condition, their dogs help reduce hospital admissions and give people and their families greater confidence, enabling them to lead a full and happy life."

Don't forget to round-up your orders to the nearest £1 when you checkout this month and help to support the groundbreaking work of Medical Detection Dogs.

Throughout April we helped to support Pesticide Action Network UK and raised an amazing £850.92 thanks to your checkout donations. Thank you so much to everyone who donated!

Pesticide Action Network UK is the only charity working to protect the British public, wildlife and environment from the problems caused by pesticides. They work tirelessly to apply pressure to governments, regulators, policy makers, industry and retailers to reduce the impacts of harmful pesticides to both human health and the environment.