A charity’s spring open day raised over £8000 on Saturday.

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, in Wycombe Road, Saunderton, opened its gates to more than a thousand supporters throughout the day, giving visitors a chance to watch demonstrations, see puppy classes and take a behind-the-scenes tour of the grounds.

Hundreds of the charity’s volunteers, who look after, train and socialise hearing puppies, turned up with their dogs to show visitors how they work.

High Wycombe residents Jilly and David Hay have been socialising hearing dogs for 12 years and have looked after 29 dogs in that time.

Jilly said: “We get them at eight weeks old and we take them out and about, getting them used to being in public and around people.

“People always ask us, how can you bear to give the dogs away? But it’s very rewarding and it’s lovely to see the effect it has on a deaf person’s life. It gives them confidence and independence and once you see that, there’s no question.”

Staff from High Wycombe John Lewis also came along to present Monty the Penguin to nine-year-old Georgie Cullen and her hearing dog Casper, after Hearing Dogs won a competition to become the new owners of the cuddly toy.

Monty, the star of John Lewis’ popular Christmas advert, will now take pride of place in the family room, to comfort children when they visit the charity headquarters.

Melanie Tyrer, events organiser for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, said: “We were delighted with the turn out on Saturday, and were blessed with glorious sunshine throughout the day.

“We would like to thank all our volunteers and supporters who came to visit our Spring Open Day, and for helping us to raise over £8,700 for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. All funds raised will help us to train more hearing dog puppies to transform the lives of deaf people across the UK."