The Farmhouse

Fen Bank, Friskney

Boston

Lincolnshire

PE22 8PS

Tel: 01754 820593

Sanctuary snippets

Vantastic service!

We had some problems a while ago with our old silver van, which were looking like being expensive to fix. So, Paul found an excellent van dealer, Mark Harris Commercials, in Lincoln (www.vantastic.co.uk) who took in our old van in part exchange for a new one. He then got the signwriting done for free! Thoughts of warmer weather (!) prompted us to think about getting vents put in which, to cut a long story short, were done for free by Mark along with a refund of £100 as he has sold the old van for more than he anticipated! Here is Mark presenting the keys to Paul accompanied by his Rottie Max who is now an honarary greyhound!

Sincere thanks to Mark for all his help with the van, we and the Fen Bank hounds appreciate it very much.

Bouncer and Lucy's Boxing Day treat

We are grateful to John and Lois Gardiner who come to the Sanctuary and take dogs out for the day; this is really valuable time for the hounds as it gives them variety and helps to socialise them. Here is their report on Bouncer and Lucy.

On Boxing Day we took Bouncer and Lucy out for a walk on the beach at Gibraltar Point.  We had a lovely time and they enjoyed themselves too! They were happy to hop into the car once Bouncer had checked it out.  Both settled down quickly and snoozed through some interesting views of High Street Skegness – various shaped dogs and various shaped owners, not always to match.

Leashes were tight seaward on the nature reserve’s main footpath – Bouncer in red and Lucy in yellow in the photo. The infuriating sight of short-legged, overweight other dogs off their leads, on the beach, barking excitedly drew two huge yowls from Lucy.  Bouncer just stared at them in disbelief.

The walk back to the car was calmer and the car a cinch to get into. Knowing the outing was over, the four of us were a bit subdued on the half-hour drive back.  Lucy rested her snout on Bouncer’s thigh and closed her eyes for much of it.

A word of warning about a beach visit to Gibraltar Point with Fen Bank dogs – give yourselves at least three hours.  It’s further away than it looks. Next time we’ll stop for a picnic.

John and Lois

Christmas Party 2012

The weather was kind to us for the Christmas party at Frithville Village Hall this year.

About a hundred owners with their dogs arrived for a great afternoon of fundraising.  To entertain and entice everyone to spend their money there was a tombola, a bottle stall, cake stall, animal models and a large number of prizes for the raffle.  To fuel the inner person, the Boston Tea Ladies made tea and coffee as well as a range of rolls and wonderful cakes and mulled wine.

The cake stall sold out completely and a very lucky person went home with the beautifully decorated rum soaked Caribbean Christmas cake with the unique Fen Bank cartoon iced on it as drawn by Debbie.

The merchandise stall was very popular, selling greyhound themed items, jewellery and glassware as well as Fen Bank Christmas cards and Calendars. A wide range of dog coats were available.

The auctioneer was Paul who was very imposing on the stage and assisted by Mick, the Kennel Manager, coaxed the maximum bids on some beautiful items including  pictures, greyhound sculptures and hampers. A couple of bottles of whisky and bourbon were hard fought.  All the items had been donated by kind owners.

The dogs were the real stars of the day, there was barely a complaint or grumble from any of them.  They received lots of petting and treats and went home tired out.

We would like to give a special thanks to Tim and Pauline, Jan and Janice and all the other lovely helpers who made it possible and, of course, all the wonderful owners who came along to support Fen Bank. We just couldn’t have done it without you all.  It was a great day and raised over £1,600 for the Sanctuary.

Fold Hill Pet Foods

Fold Hill Pet Foods near Boston kindly donated lots of boxes of treats to our dogs, who are licking their lips in anticipation.... Here we see Mick receiving some of the treats from Ryan and Emily.

Thank you very much to Fold Hill, we and the dogs appreciate your kindness very much!

See www.foldhill.co.uk for more information.

Thomas Bell Country Store, Brigg, Meet & Greet, 20th October

Thomas Bell were very welcoming for a "Meet and Greet" at their Country Store in Brigg.

The dogs behaved themselves as always and did their bit to welcome the shoppers.

The day was overcast but we were all warm inside, the dogs helped by many treats, cuddles and pats; the humans by cups of tea (and cakes Paul)?

As well as money in the bucket, several enquiries were made about the dogs for homing in the kennels and we answered general questions about the greyhounds themselves and the racing industry.

http://www.thomasbellcountrystore.co.uk/

John with Ashley, Paul with Peter, Mary with Scooby and Judith borrowing Gandy whose mum was

behind the camera. The big animal was just horse-ing around.

Brigg Garden Centre Meet & Greet, 15th September

Thank you to the volunteers and members of the public who donated over £300 to the hounds on a lovely sunny day. Thank you also to Brigg Garden Centre for allowing us to collect and for the use of their gazebo.

Fen Bank Dog Show at Surfleet Village Show, 9th September

The dog show attracted 184 entries and was a very enjoyable day. The photo of the single dog is Forest who was best in Show and his very proud owner Mr Raithby.

Many thanks to Martin at MWA Photography for allowing us to use these photos - you can find further details and more photos at www.mwaphotography.co.uk.

Boston Community Showcase, 9th September

Boston Community Showcase - fantastic day. We raised £200. Had one hound rehoming reserved (Scarlet has since gone home) and a few other potential rehoming leads. Sweltering 28 degrees (in the shade) with lots of punters finding out just how fantastic greyhounds can be. Thanks to Summer, Dolly, Jilly, Signor Rossi, Sweetie, Vinnie, Ivan and Bertha for being ambassadors (and Joan, Alan, Jill, Chris and Wendy).

Around the Sanctuary

Tim road-tests the mower bought with money raised by Sue ebaying items donated to the shop.	Thanks to volunteer Joy for all her work tidying up the Fen Bank gardens.	Thanks to volunteer Jack who comes from Sutton three times a week and is a great help at the Sanctuary.

Harry and Belle's Day Out

We took Harry and Belle out for the day on Sunday 5 August, and promised to send you a "write-up" on how it went.

They are a delightful pair and we really enjoyed having them with us for a few hours, and they seemed to enjoy being out with us too!

Considering they hadn't met us before, they settled very well with us and were very well-behaved.

As far as travelling in the car is concerned, they did very well.  Harry was keen to get in but took a little while to settle and liked to look out of the window.  Belle was a bit reluctant to get in and in fact had to be lifted in, but once in she settled quickly and lay down quietly.  We drove a few miles with them to my parents' house at Revesby Bank and from there we took them on a long walk along the bridal paths there.  Harry and Belle were very good and very easy to walk on the lead - until a hare came into view at which point they got very excited indeed and it did take rather a firm grip to keep them steady until we turned off the field  side and on to the wooded side where no hares were visible and they forgot about it and calmed down again.  We walked for about an hour and a half and they were lovely companions. 

Once back at the house we left them to rest under a tree in the garden while we ate Sunday dinner.  After about 15 minutes Harry did have a little barking session, but I think it was because he was in an unusual situation for him and just needed a bit of reassurance.  He certainly stopped as soon as John went outside to reassure him.  John thought he would keep them company whilst eating his dessert outside - but that was rather a mistake because as soon as they saw a dish they assumed it was for them and in fact Belle got very excited and did get her nose into the gooseberry crumble! 

After lunch we got back into the car, and went over to Gibraltar Straits where we encountered other dogs out for a walk.  Harry and Belle were not really interested in them;  they said a polite hello to a spaniel but otherwise ignored other dogs.  They did seem to be a bit taken aback at the sight of  some cows on the other side of the fence on the walk back from the sea.  We arrived back at Fen Bank, and they came in very happily - I think Harry and Belle were very pleased to see their dinner bowls.  We had a lovely day and hope they did too.  They are a very dear pair and will make very loyal and loving companions, but would need an owner who could hold on tight if they were likely to be out where hares are running about!

Thanks for letting us help.

Kind regards

John & Lois Gardiner

London

Revesby Show - 5th August 2012

The weather started out really nice and the crowds started to roll in. Lots of activity around our stall and lots of people coming to see all the greyhounds – we had Rossi, Vinnie, Jilly, Sweetie, Brenda, Sox, Harley, Jack, Summer, Dolly, Blue, Harvey and Rory  ‘working’ on the stall with us.  About  2.30 the heavens opened and the thunder rumbled around and we all got rather wet.  All the crowds melted away so everyone headed off home a bit disappointed and very damp but we still managed to make a profit of £520 so not so bad really.

The good news is that three families who saw all our hounds happy together and all quiet and peaceful have since been down to Fen Bank to look round and there will be three greyhounds with new homes very soon. So it was worth getting wet for after all!!!!

Kennel trustee Stella and Jilly with Katie, Rita (hiding behind the post on the right) and Rob all set up and waiting for the gates to open.

Boston Circle 525 Ladies Group - 18th July 2012

The Sanctuary recently played host to members of the Boston Circle 525 Ladies Group. Upon arrival they were each introduced to “their” Greyhound and proceeded to do several circuits of Tim’s field. This was followed by a guided tour of the kennels and our facilities.

Refreshments were then taken in Tim’s conservatory and Paul gave a talk on Greyhounds which was followed by a lively Q&A session. The evening should have finished by 9 o’clock but it was nearly 10 before our guests finally departed, all the Greyhounds present having “good bye” strokes and cuddles!

A long list of thanks for making the evening such a success goes to:  Tim and Pauline for kindly allowing us to use their field and opening up their home, Judith for providing and producing the refreshments, Mick and Debbie for giving up their evening off . And all the Greyhounds who enjoyed the extra walks and behaved impeccably...as we know they always do!

Elwood, Briggs & Turner Open Day, 15th July 2012

Lindsey & Keith Prince's Coffee Evening, July 2012

A coffee evening held by Lindsey and Keith Prince and their niece Amy raised a whopping £245 for the greyhounds. Thank you to them for all their work and effort it is very much appreciated. The picture shows Jill (centre) receiving the money from Lindsey and Amy. Vinnie, Sweetie and Jilly went along to say thank you on behalf of all the greyhounds at the sanctuary.

Paddock sheds

A generous donor bought three sheds for the kennels, one for each paddock, so that a pair of dogs can shelter on a rainy day (is there any other sort?) whilst their kennel is being cleaned. The sheds are now built - we are grateful to Rick Dunford for his invaluable assistance in assembling them. Thanks also to the donor who wishes to remain anonymous.

Fotherby Fete

Thank you to Andy and Barbara Goodyear and Marti who have raised almost £400 at two shows. They put in a lot of hard work with some very inventive ideas.

The picture shows Andy and Barbara at the Fotherby Fete with Amy Lakin and her friend Imogen. Amy spent hours baking and packing ‘Poochie’ dog biscuits which she then brought to the stall to help with the fundraising.  Thank you Amy.

Old School Jubilee Party, Barnby Dun, Doncaster, 2nd June '12

A perfect day - dry but not too hot - saw Fen Bank in Doncaster again and the unveiling of our new banners watched over by Mary and Scooby, with Pedro, Ziggy and Katie keeping out of the way! Despite having 60 tombola prizes we ran out after an hour and a half! Many thanks to all our visitors who helped to make this a successful afternoon for the Fen Bank greyhounds, and to John and Mary for donating not just the prizes but the marquee and banners as well.

Fen Bank Dog Show May 2012

See here for pictures and report.

On the beach at Fen Bank

Mick with Bill on the Fen Bank 'beach' (sand paddock) before Bill goes home. It's a hard life being the Kennel Manager.....

Refurbishment of the Stable Block

We are currently refurbishing the Stable Block, which is the original part of the Sanctuary set up in 1997. Each kennel will have its own independent access instead of one leading to another as was the case. We will also open up the end kennels which have not been used for some years; one of which will be a hospital kennel for sick dogs, this will have easy access from the house. Two of the sheds which are at the side of the existing path will be moved and so the whole area will be much more accessible and less cluttered. A play-area will also be incorporated so that the dogs can enjoy a run around in the (hopefully) sunny months to come. Below we see how work is progressing on Sunday 11th March under the ever-watchful eye of Sandra, our Founder.

Funding for this has been provided by Sue Card (one of our kennel assistants) ebaying donated items together with the proceeds of Stella Pullum's memorial tree. Our thanks to these ladies, and also to Ray and his team for giving up their weekends to help.

Sky, Breeze and Prince (and Mr Muffin) give BLOOD

Brave dogs Sky, Breeze and Prince went to our vets, Elwood, Briggs and Turner to give blood. They all got goody bags, a nice bandana, and a sleepover. BBC Look North were also there so they might get to be TV stars as well! (Sadly not, it has just been on and featured labradors and not our gorgeous hounds).

Louise Johnson comforts the dogs and gets them ready for the procedure which is carried out by Nigel Turner - one of the partners at Elwood, Briggs and Turner - with help from nurses from the Blood Bank charity.

After the blood has been taken the dogs get a fancy bandana, some treats, and another hug from Louise. Just like humans, there is always a need for canine blood for use in operations, road accidents and so on.

See Muffin Ledward-Hands giving blood courtesy of the Boston Standard here.

Jack and Honey

Jack and Honey are our elderly sponsor dogs who have been with us for many years and couldn't be homed for one reason or another. They have been feeling the cold lately, and we want to thank Sam for kindly making and donating these lovely warm pyjamas - they are much happier in them as they can keep warm yet still move around freely. You can read more about Jack and Honey here. You can read about (and order) their jim-jams here.

Fenwold Vets collection

All the greyhounds at Fen Bank send a big thank you to everyone at Fenwold Vets in Skegness who has contributed to the mountain of food being examined by Ramsey and Badger along with Mick and Debbie. It is much appreciated and we are touched by your kindness.

Memorial tree

Christmas Party - 3rd December 2011

Thanks to John Bright and Bruce Gibson for the photos.

Sid the Lurcher

The Sanctuary would like to thank the staff and volunteers who each generously donated £10 to pay for Sid's neutering. Janice, Jan, Debbie, Stella, Mick, Sue and Jill - your kindness is very much appreciated - except by Sid who says you really needn't have bothered.....

Dog Show 2011 - September 2011

The Fen Bank Fun Dog Show was incorporated into the Surfleet Village fete this year, click here to see Jill Kirby's report of the day.

Sutton on Sea Carnival - Sunday 31st July 2011

   Mr Muffin trying to cadge a lift

Wrangle Show - Sunday 3rd July 2011

The sun shone all day and the crowds came out to Wrangle Show. We had a lovely time, spent lots of our own money and made lots of money for the Sanctuary. The Lancaster did a fly past so low it seemed we could have climbed on board, it was the first time Vinnie had seen it and he watched it all the way round much to everyone's amusement. We had lots of interest in the greyhounds who, as you can see, spent most of the day horizontal! Big thanks go to Tim and Pam and John who were there with me all day and to Sue who turned up after her shift at the kennels. The stars of the stall were Bruce, Daisy, Mitzie, Del, Cherry and Vinnie who spent most of the day being stroked and cuddled with Rossi and Jimmy Joe Joe deciding it was much nicer to spend the day laid out in the van!

Thank you to the organisers of the Wrangle Show for a very nice day.

Jill Kirby

Spilsby Show - Sunday 10th July 2011

Thanks to the Spilsby Show Committee for organising a very good show including perfect weather conditions which meant we had a very successful day fundraising. Thank you to all the people who turned up to help and to Summer, Vinnie, Kelly, Cherry, Del, Jack and DJ the poodle who got their picture in the paper and spent all day being petted and cuddled by everyone. They didn't put a paw wrong.

 Even better Mick has home checked two of the families that visited the stall to see the greyhounds and two more families are coming to visit the sanctuary. So that could mean four more greyhounds with a sofa to sleep on which means four more can come in to Fen Bank.

Great British Greyhound Walk, Cleethorpes - 26th June 2011

Thank you to the owners of 12 greyhounds and a whippet who came to Cleethorpes on a scorching hot day in support of the Great British Greyhound Walk.

We all set off from Anthonys Bank car park at about 10:30, and arrived back an hour later after a very hot walk along the sand and back under the shade of the trees in the park.

Burgh Le Marsh Brownies - 23rd June 2011

Mick and Debbie took the perfectly-behaved Bill and Tess to see the Burgh Le Marsh brownies. They kindly gave us lots of food and bedding - the van was full of it all! Thank you to the brownies for a lovely visit.

Friskney Dog Show - 13th June 2011

A wet and blustery day at the Friskney Show did not dampen the enthusiasm of the dog show entrants and Molly, who won the waggiest tail class was absolutely delighted to win Best in Show as you can see. Thanks go to all the owners and dogs who turned out to support Fen Bank at the first dog show to be held at the Friskney Show. Thanks to Vicki Price for the difficult job of judging and to Bev for stewarding.

Clockwise from above left: Dog in best condition, best in show (Molly), happy families, best rescue.

Louth Classic Car Show - 5th June 2011

Barbara Goodyear, Rick and Jean Garner, Jill Kirby and Tim Underhill        Bruce and Daisy who is getting a tummy

with dogs Marti, Kelly, Cherry, Vinnie, Ziggy and Del                                tickle from Tim

New Leake Summer Fete - 5th June 2011

Thank you to Pam and Mitzi, John and Jimmy for running a fundraising stall for us at the New Leake Summer Fete with help from Janice, Chris and Mary. Below left is them on the agility course run by the Sarber Dog Training team; on the right are

Above left: John with Jimmy and Pam with Mitzi on the agility course run by Sarber Dog Training. Above right: John with Mitzi, Jess with Bill, and Janice and Chris with their dogs.

Below: Mitzi on the agility course, Jess with Tess and Debbie with Bill, and Debbie and Bill on the agility course.

Fen Bank Sponsored Walk - 1st May 2011

Mick, Jenny and Debbie volunteered to do a sponsored walk along the beach from Skegness to Mablethorpe to raise money for the dogs. And so on a beautiful day they set off, and 16 miles and several sore feet later all arrived happily in Mablethorpe. Jill met them in the van at various points along the way to change dogs!

We do not have all sponsor forms back yet, but the total raised is over £700; we will let you know the final total when we have it. Many thanks to Mick, Jenny and Debbie for this fantastic achievement, Fen Bank and the dogs are very grateful to you.

The Ball House Pub Boston Christmas Raffle

Mick is very pleased to accept a cheque for £220 from the staff and customers Christmas raffle at the Ball House pub in Boston. Thank you to all who took part.     

Mr Gail's birthday

Mr Gail homed Kai last year.

It was his 80th birthday recently, and instead of presents he kindly asked for money to be split between the PDSA and Fen Bank. He then presented us with a £100 cheque. Many thanks from us and all the deserving dogs at Fen Bank.

Anton's Gowt, Boston, Fun Dog Show - 13th February 2011

Done by Sarber Dog Training, we were represented by Mick (and his legs)...

        Mick and Molly get 'Best Six Legs'                   Molly and Vinny get 2nd and 5th place in            Percy with new owner Chris

                                                                                             'Best Rescue'                                    and new friend Saber      

Skegness Liberal Social Club - 31st January 2011

The photo shows all Stuart Spizer's friends at the Liberal Social Club.  Stuart wanted all donations to go to Fen Bank Greyhound Sanctuary and his close friend Jardine promised he would see it happen.

They raised the magnificent sum of £203.47 and this was presented to Stella Pullum who accepted it gratefully on behalf of the Sanctuary.  This took place at the Liberal Social Club, Skegness on Monday 31st January.
Thank you Stuart, from all the greyhounds at Fen Bank Greyhound Sanctuary.

Mabels Hounds Show - 15th August 2010

Revesby Country Show - 1st August 2010

Fen Bank have had stall at Revesby Fair for years and have always had a good time. Following the retirement of the old market stall (to everyone's relief) we added a second gazebo and dusted of the garlands and ivy. Lynda made a lovely job of decorating and draping - being tall she didn't need a ladder! Stella, Jill, Rose and Gordon set out bottles, teddy bears, tombola and loads of things for sale including plum bread and dog treats made by Christine (You can see the interest they cause in the photo!). We had our first outing for the 2011 calendars and sold four! Gordon and Stella didn't stop all day. Pam and John and Mary came and put time in on the stall so those who wanted to had chance to have a nosey round and spend money. Lots of greyhounds all lying around together created lots of interest and made sure the stall had a lot of visitors who spent lots of money.

It was a long, busy day but a very satisfying one. Thank you to all the helpers and all the greyhounds who came. Thank you to the organizers of show. We are looking forward to next years!!!!!!

Sutton on Sea Carnival - 25th July 2010

Grace

Grace, one of our kennel dogs, recently broke her leg and is now recovering well. She had a trip out to a hydrotherapy centre as part of her rehab; click here to see how she got on.

Spilsby Show - 11th July 2010

Once again the Spilsby Show committee put on a really good family day out and judging by the number of greyhounds and owners who turned up this proved to be the most popular show so far. At one point we had thirteen greyhounds for people to meet and be seduced by. It also meant we all had time to have a walk round with some dogs and generate more interest. Thank you to everyone who came along - Lynda and George, Pam, Lorraine, Rick and Jean, Janice and Chris, Joan and Alan and lots of lovely greyhounds.  We nearly came to the last of the tickets for the bottle stall and most of the tombola went.  Two prospective new homes was just the icing on the cake.

Barnby Dun Old School Celebration, Doncaster - 10th July 2010

A really hot day in Doncaster, luckily we got prime pitch in the shade under the trees. Ziggy found a new friend. Many thanks to Jill, Paul and Judith, and Rob and Rita for turning up to one of our first events in the wilds of South Yorkshire!

Wrangle Show - 4th July 2010

Strong winds and a hot dusty day didn't deter Lynda, Pam, John and Jill along with their six greyhounds from having a nice time at Wrangle show. Lots of people turned up and old friends came to say hello, we had a lot of interest in the dogs and a possible homing which is always good.

The Great British Greyhound Walk - 20th June 2010

The GBGW was organised by Janet Peacock as an idea to raise the profile of greyhounds and there were 43 walks throughout the country all done by local groups. Out of the 1624 greyhounds that set off walking at 10am Sunday 20^th June we had 42 of them:

Casper, Charlie, Chiara, Harley, Snowey, Honcho, Pedro, Ziggy, Lottie, Bruce, Sir Fosse, Daisy, Bridie, Merlin, Kelly, Suzie, Peter, Cinders, Ollie, Sky, Jenny, Bud, Bryn, Muffin, Discit, Bluebell, Sally, Mr Paddy, Poppy, Tiger, Emie, Kylie, Lily, Bonnie, Lady, Polly, Tammy, Didder, Del, Katie, Cherry and Rossi.

Thank you to everyone who turned out on what started out a bracing day at Cleethorpes and helping prove what great dogs greyhounds are. Thank you to all the greyhounds who, as usual, behaved beautifully and resisted the temptation to chase the hundreds of ducks around the boating lake.

Thank you to Paul Bryan for organising the walk as his first job as a Fen Bank trustee. As the feedback was positive we may well be organising some more Fen Bank walks, so if you interested please contact Jill on info@fenbankgreyhounds.co.uk

At the start...

Say 'cheese'.                                                                                     C'mon, we want to be off.....

Sir Fosse spots a duck.                                         More views of the walk......

Click here to see us all walking by (warning! large file, may take time to download!

After the walk and time for a snooze in Peter's garden (Cherry, Peter and Katie) .....

Janet Harwood’s Open Garden - 13th June 2010

Over 140 people turned up to see Janet’s beautiful garden in Halton Holegate. There was tea and cake on the lawn, a lovely vintage Rolls Royce to look round, home made ice cream and a champagne raffle. Then the garden - Janet and Laura put in hours of work to get everything ready and what a beautiful sight it was. Nearly every one bought some home grown plants and home made cakes which had been made by Janet and her friends.

Claude the turkey spent most of the afternoon strutting round looking after his hens and chickens. Balzac the greyhound wandered around all afternoon “chatting” to people and generally doing a sterling “PR” job for his breed.

Thank you to everyone who helped. It was a lovely afternoon, very busy but very enjoyable for all the volunteers.

See more photos taken by Tom Russell here.

Friskney Show - 13th June 2010

Jenny and Shawn ran the stall at the Friskney show as they do every year. Lots of greyhounds and owners turned up to support them but no one took a camera so no photos. Everyone said what a good time they had and what a nice show it is. The weather was a little suspect at first but in the end turned out to be just right.

Thank you to all who turned up and helped.

Louth Classic Car Show - 6th June 2010

I forgot my camera so we don’t have a photo of this year's show and yet again it rained. It didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the people who turned up to visit and to help on the stall. We had the added attraction of lots of Christine’s home made cakes to sell plus 12 greyhounds and one whippet for everyone to stroke and cuddle. A memorable sight when they all went off for a walk together.

Thank you to everyone who turned out on a damp and overcast day.

New Leake Country Show 2010

The Fen Bank stall at New Leake Country Show 2010. The weather was nice, the sun was shining and we all enjoyed a very pleasant day. There was a lovely fun dog show where our greyhounds scooped up prizes in all the classes they entered. Even the dogs all watched an impressive and scarily low fly past by the Dakota and Spitfire from the Battle of Britain flight.

Thank you to Pam, John and Mitzie Fraser for running the stall and to Lorraine and Blue Rear, Lynda, George and Harley Gray, Pat, John, Millie and Jake Whyers for helping out and to Spud, Flossie, Biscuit and all the others who visited us. We had a good day financially and best of all we got a new home for one of the sanctuary dogs.

Well done ......

from Jill, Del, Cherry, Katie and Rossi.

Daphne Ledward's Open Garden weekend - April 2010

April 17th and 18th saw blue skies and glorious spring sunshine which brought lots of people out to see Daphne's garden at home and then come down to The Patch for a wander round the arboretum and the a refreshing cup of tea with a piece of home made cake.  TWENTY  THREE greyhounds laid dozing in the sunshine and greeting all comers with a wag of the tail whilst their owners manned various stalls.

Fen Bank would like to thank Daphne, John, Mr Paddy, Sally, Muffin, Bluebell and Discit for having us at The Patch and the Little Thatch and for all their hard work in raising such a good sum.

We have a wonderful band of volunteers who turn out time and time again to help the greyhounds and you do Fen Bank proud.

Tesco Cleethorpes - April 2010

Saturday April 10th saw a good turn out of volunteers with a total of eleven greyhounds for a nine hour 'tin-shake'. We were allowed to park the van in the first bay by the door which was a great help and the staff were very nice and helpful. We would like to say a big thank you to the people of Grimsby and surrounding area who put a total of £478.58 in the collecting tins and got a greyhound cuddle in return. 

Thank you to all the volunteers and especially the greyhounds who missed their afternoon naps to help.

Lynn's Hair Fashions, Mablethorpe

Lynn holds raffles to raise money for local charities.

 In March she decided to donate the money to Fen Bank as two of her regulars Harry and Marjorie Snell have just lost their beloved greyhound Patch.

Del went along to say a very big thank you to Lynn and her customers from all the greyhounds at the sanctuary and collect a whopping £416.00. 

Sills & Betteridge Collection

Local solicitors Sills and Betteridge recently held a collection of dog-related items and kindly divided them between the Sanctuary and 'Keith's Dog Rescue'. Bill, our Chairman, went along with Cherry Kirby to collect the goodies.

Back at Fen Bank and time to open the parcel!

Christmas Party 2009

Thank you to everyone who came along on Saturday 5th December and made the Christmas Party such a success. As ever, everyone enjoyed the day, all the dogs were really well-behaved, and through your generosity a substantial amount was raised to help to look after the Fen Bank Greyhounds.

Sutton On Sea Late Night Shopping - Dec 2009

The Fen Bank table at the Sutton on Sea Christmas Late Night shopping - with Bill, Margaret, Jill, Del and Cherry . Paul and Judith came with greyhound Peter and helped us take £166, which was the best we have done. The weather was fairly kind and it didn't rain so there was quite a good turnout. Thank you to all the Sutton on Sea residents for  their support.

Dog Show 2009

The Dog Show was held on Sunday 15th September, on a day varying from quite cold to warm sun. Sadly we were competing against three other events locally, but still managed to attract a good turnout of people and dogs.

With thanks to everyone who came along and helped to raise just short of £2,000 for the hounds. Thanks also to the stall-holders, other volunteers, and to New Leake Village Hall and Bill Tuplin on the PA for their support with the day.