Hearing Dogs' Champions

Haddenham.net is delighted to announce an astonishing milestone: the legendary plant, cake and homemade preserve sales organised and run by long-standing Hearing Dogs volunteers, Fiona and Rob Daniels have now raised over £100,000!

The sales in Townside, Haddenham have grown from very humble beginnings back in 2020 into one of the most popular fixtures in the Hearing Dogs calendar.

Fiona recalls the origins of the sales: "We used to take plants we'd grown into Hearing Dogs' southern training centre and sell them at the charity's volunteer coffee afternoons. They seemed quite popular, so we continued planting and growing seedlings ready for the next sales.

"When the pandemic hit, we had a surplus of plants that we couldn't take to the training centre, so we set up a table with an honesty box outside our house in Haddenham. We raised over £200 that weekend."

Spurred on by this success, Fiona and Rob began holding sales more frequently. "For VE Day, we teamed up with our fellow volunteers, Peter Shepperd, Wendy Baldwin and Debra Dinnage. This time we added homemade cakes to the mix, and were amazed to see people queueing around the corner of our road. That sale raised £900 for Hearing Dogs!

"After that, we began making chutneys and preserves from our home-grown fruit and veg, while Peter contributed his now-famous pasties and chilli sauces. And things just grew from there."

Since 2021, in addition to their sales at home, Fiona and Rob and their team have been holding the sales between March and October every year at The Grange, adding additional plants from other volunteers and allowing more people to come together and support the charity.

Fiona said: "We could never have imagined how successful the sales would become. We're so grateful to everybody who has supported us along the way."

Gill Yeates, Head of Community Fundraising, said: "We can't thank Fiona, Rob and their team enough for their dedication to the charity. Their hard work has helped us train many more hearing dogs who have gone on to change the lives of deaf people. A truly remarkable achievement!"

Source: Hearing Dogs for Deaf People