Diss woman has raised £22,000 for Medical Detection Dogs

A Diss woman has raised £22,000 in three years for Medical Detection Dogs.

Norma Howell, of Croft Lane, joined the charity in 2016 as a volunteer to raise awareness of their work.

Medical Detection Dogs, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, trains dogs to detect the odour of human disease, such as cancer, or alert to a life-threatening medical event.

The 72-year-old said: “I got involved because, a few years ago, I was president of the Diss and District Rotary Club and we raised quite a lot of money for this charity – enough that I did not want to post it, so I went down to the headquarters in Milton Keynes and presented the cheque.

“When I was there, I saw a demonstration of the cancer detection dogs and, from then onwards, I was hooked on helping.”

Mrs Howell has since joined the charity as a speaker, promoting awareness and raising cash to train dogs.

On average, it costs £11,200 and takes 18 months to two years to train a medical detection dog.

The charity has trained more than 180 dogs over the past decade.

The majority of their dogs go to clients with type 1 diabetes.

As a regional support co-ordinator for Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire, and by giving two to three presentations a week, Mrs Howell is able to raise vital funds.

“A lot of people don’t know who we are. It’s something relatively new and many people know someone who suffers from cancer or diabetes,” she said.

Some of the money she has raised is going towards sponsoring a diabetic-alert dog for a child in Ipswich.

“I just absolutely love doing it,” she said. It’s so worthwhile.

“So many people have got cancer or other medical conditions. The more we can do to diagnose things early, the better.”

For more information about the charity, visit their website.

• On February 8, Mrs Howell will speak at Palgrave Community Centre at 7.30pm. To book, call Elaine Bootman on 01379 640211 or email bootmanelaine07@gmail.com.