Hearing Dogs: New Plymouth Charitable Trust receives help from Canon

Hearing Dogs NZ is a New Plymouth-based charitable trust. Photo / Supplied

A New Plymouth charitable trust has received cash and Canon gear for its contribution to the community.

Hearing Dogs NZ was one of three not-for-profit initiatives that were awarded $2500 cash and $2500 worth of Canon gear of their choice for shining a light on environmental and social issues in communities throughout New Zealand.

Canon New Zealand chief executive Kim Conner says the judging panel was impressed by the hard work, dedication and innovative thinking of this year's winners.

"They all have a clear vision for how they want to develop and grow their initiatives and, in doing so, positively impact their local community. It's our great pleasure to give them a helping hand through our grants programme. It's one of the many ways we give back; something that underpins the way Canon works across the world."

Hearing Dogs NZ assess, select, place and train dogs to become hearing dogs for the deaf and severely hearing impaired people.

It is an independent charitable trust which provides specially trained hearing dogs to people with hearing problems, at no charge.

As well as providing their owner with a sense of comfort, greater independence and social interaction, hearing dogs are trained to alert their owner to sounds such as doorbells, fire alarms, text messages, a baby crying and phone calls.

Clare McLaughlin from NZ Hearing Dogs says they are absolutely thrilled to be the recipients of Canon's grant.

"We are passionate about providing specially trained Hearing Dogs to deaf and severely hearing-impaired New Zealanders.

"Due to Canon's generosity, we are on our way to purchasing a new puppy for training and using its digital technology, we will now be able to capture and record the progress of each dog - from puppy raising through to intensive training and finally placement with their deaf recipient."