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Dogs
for Disabled win award
Dogs for the Disabled the Banbury-based charity has received
an award for training and development, but it’s the staff
that have earned it, not the dogs! An Investors in People award
has been presented to the organisation after it successfully
demonstrated investment in its human resources.
As the first of the Assistance Dogs UK organisations to receive
the standard Peter Gorbing - the chief executive of Dogs for
the Disabled - explained why it’s important to the charity:
“Our dogs require a high standard of training and that
requires intensive training and development for our staff. The
framework of the Investors in People Standard allows us to ensure
our staff develop to their full potential.”
“As training providers we teach our dogs to open doors,
pull clothes out of washing machines or press a button to call
a lift. Our dog training methods are reward-based and receive
praise, play, food or freedom in return for their efforts. For
staff, our training methods are a little more routine, but nonetheless
important if we are going to continue to be flexible and adaptable.”
The Investors in People Standard requires key organisations
to create a framework that incorporates four key principles:
commitment, planning, action and evaluation. The organisation
is then assessed against these principles by checking the paperwork
and processes, but more importantly asking staff about how the
processes help them.
“We are a relatively new organisation and we are growing
quickly, many of the requirements for the Standard had already
been put in place when we decided to work towards it, but it
has helped to keep us focussed. Our aim is to ensure that we
repeatedly provide a high quality of service to out clients
and the Investors in People continual assessment will help us
do that,” explains Mr Gorbing.
“Currently we have trained over 200 dogs to carry out practical
tasks, helping to enhance the quality of life for those with
a disability. We would like to increase the number of people
who could benefit from a partnership with a dog and so increase
their independence. we feel in achieving the standard we are
moving in a direction to maximise our potential,” says
Mr Gorbing.
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