John Chapman with his guide dog Mitch

RESIDENTS living close to a guide dog training centre have been asked to consider fosterer them on a temporary basis.

The appeal has been sent out by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association charity which has more dogs arriving to learn how to help the blind and partially-sighted at their base in Tavistock Square, Bloomsbury.

The dogs are trained each weekday but need somewhere to stay in the evenings and at weekends – “after school”, as the charity puts it. Luke Hughes, canine assisted services operations manager for the London team at Guide Dogs, said: “Our volunteer fosterers come from all kinds of backgrounds and situations, but what they have in common is the dedication to ensuring our dogs have a healthy, loving home.”

He added: “Providing a stable environment where our dogs can continue to grow and learn is absolutely key to the success of our future guide dogs. “The value of the support from volunteer fosterers is immeasurable.”

The charity said that fostering would suit people who worked in the day, as they drop off the dogs each morning, and might appeal to anybody who cannot afford the cost of taking on a dog as a pet for ever.

Guitarist John Chapman, who lives in Kentish Town and started losing his sight when he was 28, told the New Journal how his dog Mitch had changed his life

“Before I couldn’t go out without the cane. And when you are swiping it left to right all the time, your arm is aching,” he said. “It’s not good all round really. But when you get a guide dog you don’t need it and all that goes away. Mitch is not like having a robot just taking you places. It’s a partnership.”

His new EP, Guiding Star, is available for download with all the money going to the Guide Dogs for the Blind charity.