In 1996 having decided our next dog would be a rescue and a Collie it seemed sensible to contact BCTGB who were only a few miles away. And so Taffy came into our lives. At the time the BCTGB centre was a dream for those involved and 12 months after taking on Taffy I read that the Trust had purchased its own kennels and needed blankets etc. I arrived with a car load of stuff and after a long chat left with a volunteer application form. I spent many a happy hour walking dogs and helping out at various events including Crufts and then in April 2000 was asked if I would be willing to become a Trustee. As Ken said, this is a honour not to be taken lightly but I was more than happy to accept. In 1999 my wife Sue and I took on Sheba, another rescue collie who came to the Trust in a very agrophobic and scared state - but that's another long story!! Suffice to say she came out of her shell and was a bundle of fun until unfortuntely we lost her after a short illness in 2008. After becoming a Trustee I took on dealing with all email communication for the Trust, and became the webmaster for this site. It has been a privilege to work with all the Trustees, who give so freely of their time and effort and also the staff at our kennels who provide such a high quality of care for all the dogs who unfortunately come into our centre. A Trustees role does involve a commitment but the sense of satisfaction at seeing our achievements is second to none.
In 2002 I retired from the Police service and began doing just a few hours in the office. In 2004 Sue and I moved into the house at the centre. Since then my involvement has grown and grown at the centre, becoming an "expert" in HR, H&S, VAT, Ride on Mowers and even septic tanks! - all this from adopting a collie
In 2015 I was honoured to not only be a nominated and selected as a finalist in The PetPlan and ADCH Animal Charity Volunteer Of The Year but to be announced as the winner at the ADCH Conference in Bournemouth. A great honour for myself and the Trust.
In November 2008 we sadly lost Sheba and Taffy also left us in April 2009. It didn't take long to adopt a new companion and Reilly (or Sir Reilly as he was known at the centre) joined us in April 2009 until he also passed in May 2021. In February 2022 Lady Anywn (can you see a theme developing here?) joined us. Deaf and easily over stimulated she continues my never ending understanding and appreciation of the Border Collie.
Ben Wilkes
Taffy 1995 - 2009
Sheba 1996 - 2008
Reilly
I grew up in a household with a number of pets including a dog and got my first border collie, Ruff, when I was 13. He was still around when I got married but spent most of his time with my mother. We didn’t feel it was fair to have our own dog when our family was growing up as we were both working but used to mind a friend’s retriever sometimes during school holidays.
After my husband had to take early retirement due to his health we decided the time had come to get our own dog and one of my husband’s work colleagues introduced us to the Border Collie Trust. We then adopted an inseparable pair in July 1999. Sadly we lost Jess (formerly Gromit) to cancer in 2004 at only 8, but Shep (Herbie) was with us until 2010 having survived peritonitis at nearly 13. Another collie called Sam followed but sadly we had to return him and the Trust was unable to re-home him due to health issues. Later in 2010 Ben joined us and although he wasn’t an easy dog he was much loved and well known locally until we lost him at 13 in September 2022.
When I retired in 2007 I spent some time helping at the Trust both going to shows and also at the kennels. Eventually other commitments meant I had to stop for a number of years. Earlier this year we decided to adopt another collie and Pippa joined us at the beginning of April 2023. She is proving to be a fantastic ambassador for the Trust and has made many friends. When I saw the request for new trustees in the Spring edition of Border Collie World I took the decision to apply and was honoured to be accepted and joined the board in July 2023. I hope now I will be able to give more time helping these highly intelligent and special dogs find new homes when they are in need and making the time they have to spend in kennels as rewarding as possible.
Margaret Gosling
My first experience of Border Collie was when, after having a major tidy up some 35 plus years ago (probably the last time I had a major clean-up), I took a car load of books up to the bungalow to Jennie. I never saw any collies!
I have been surrounded by animals all of my life and throughout my adult life normally had at least 2 dogs, 2 cats and a horse.
20 years ago, at Christmas time, six moths after losing our boy Ben, we decided that foreign holidays, days out and a tidy house weren’t for us and, we visited Border Collie. A collie/water spaniel cross named Scamp chose us. He had only recently been fetched from Wales and not much was known about him. Unfortunately, the kennels had kennel cough, so we brought him home. It wasn’t known if he travelled well or if he tolerated cats (we had 2). We arrived home to a power cut (very common) and didn’t know where the cats were. When the power came back one cat and one dog were lying nose to nose.
Charlie – as we had renamed him, became one of the founder dogs of a display team we were members of and, most weekends we were out raising money for charity. He hated training nights and refused to play nicely but came into his own on displays when he played to the audience. He is famous for at one time or another, cocking his leg up every member of the team! Then came Harley, he was left in our back garden! He became the star of the display team and was known to, if he became bored with the obedience section, take himself and do a solo agility display. And finally, our beautiful Boy Sparky. He was a problem boy and was re-homed to us by the breeder. After a couple of “incidents” we sought the help of Border Collie and for several months we worked with the then behaviourist. As with all of them, he was our life, pride and joy. But now, after most of our life we find ourselves without a dog.
Apart from Ben, I probably live the nearest to the Rescue Centre. I became a probationary Trustee prior to Covid and was able to make several visits to our beautiful kennels, before lockdown. I was made a Trustee during covid and I am looking forward to visiting the kennels again on a regular basis.
