The History of Border Collie Trust GB.
The Early Years
1970 - As with many organisations we would not be here today if it were not for the efforts of a particular individual, in our case a dog lover by the name of Hazel Monk, who had a real passion for Border Collies.
1976 - Motivated by her passion for collies, Hazel Monk with the support of the "Border Collie Club of Great Britain" formed "Border Collie Rescue". Run by volunteers and funded by donation, they began rehoming collies from all over the country.
1992 - Following the sad death of Hazel, Jennie Booth took over the running of the rescue along with her husband Dave. In the early days they operated from their home and used private boarding kennels to house the dogs
The 1990's
1992 - The first Newsletter was published. This gradually progressed to the development of the magazine, Border Collie World, which is still issued quarterly.
1994 - Our first visit to Crufts which was a major success. We were able to raise funds, public awareness and find new support on a larger scale than ever before.
1996 - Border Collie Trust became a registered charity. As a charity there was more scope to raise funds. We were the first registered charity dealing exclusively with Border Collies and working sheepdogs.
1997 - A kennel appeal was launched. The Trust was very blessed to receive a large donation enabling the purchase of a 4.5 acre site, which was a boarding kennel.
1999 to 2000 - Fundraising and donations saw a new 40 kennel rescue block built. A 14 kennel boarding block was also completed providing much needed income, click here to read more about our Boarding Kennels
The New Millennium
2001 - The foot and mouth outbreak increased the number of unwanted collies considerably. This influx stretched our resources to the limit.
2003 to 2016 - Further improvements including purpose built office, puppy and special needs block and improvements to the kennels and centre thanks to fundraising, donations and legacies.
2007 - We celebrated our 10 years at Colton. To mark this milestone funds were allocated to improve the kennels with new flooring and wall coating as well as other improvements around the site. A Sponsor A Bench scheme was launched along with The Collie Care Fund.
2014 - The challenge of the potential effects from the proposed HS2 High Speed Rail began and is still ongoing.
Although much has been achieved, we rehome between 400 and 500 collies each year, there is still much to do - so the work continues.
