How a Big Dream Became a Small Charity
As our wonderful charity turns six, CareDogs Founder Delphine Chui reflects on how a big dream became a small charity…
As our small charity enters its sixth year, I wanted to share some snippets of the adventure it’s been already, as well as our vision for the future of CareDogs (and the community we’re building.)
I was nine when I first visited a dog rehoming shelter and I still remember every single dog kennel I passed. Each dog so different in size, fluffiness, temperament and sound but all with the same hopeful glint in their eyes. It was then that I learned something very important about myself: I was definitely a “dog person!”
A few decades (& family dogs) later and I felt a calling to establish a charity that would help older people rehome older dogs. The idea seemed simple: help older people overcome any barriers, whether that was technological or geographical, so they could adopt a dog and benefit from canine companionship .
While I, along with some wonderful volunteers, achieved this successfully within our first year, I quickly realised this wasn’t the most effective way of helping the people in most need. Some older people weren’t able to have their own dog because of health conditions, finances or housing situations – but this didn’t stop them wanting to have access to a dog in their life.
After extensively researching our society’s issue of loneliness, we saw that building community connections, as well as being outside and around animals could help alleviate and solve this growing problem. That’s when the CareDogs befriending service was born: a solution that helps to solve social isolation, one dog walk at a time.
Delphine and Nola at Cator Park’s ‘Paws in the Park’, September 2024
It was during this time that I adopted Nola, a Macedonian streetdog. While at first she was shy, underconfident and highly suspicious, we’ve seen her once-anxious personality completely relax and open up thanks to taking part in CareDogs activities. She’s now a regular at our community walks and fundraising stalls. (She even won 2nd place for the “best talker” category at Cator Park’s ‘Paws in the Park’ fair!
I’ve truly been so touched to see how CareDogs has become its own community and have no doubt that one day it’ll be a household name! After all, for our first five years, CareDogs was run completely by volunteers, held up by the passion and generosity of so many while we were building a firm foundation and look at us now!
I’m so excited to see how our own community has grown this past year, from landing a multi-year grant that allowed us to hire our first brilliant full-time employee Kate, to seeing the first ever CareDogs’ group walk with local charity MenCap.
Every CareDogs event, I’m amazed to see how many friendly volunteers and adorable dogs we have in the fold, from veteran volunteers who have been with us from day one, to new faces ready to make a positive impact in their community.
Looking ahead, there is so much potential for us to reach even more people, expand in more areas across London and beyond, reminding the world how important it is to get out walking, talking and forming new friendships, with both humans and dogs!
Here’s to 2025 and dreaming big!
