We were so delighted when Ellen offered to test out trundl, alongside her autism assistant dog Toby. Trained specifically to meet Ellen’s needs by Dogs for Autism, Toby has been partnering with Ellen for about 6 months now. Through his unwavering support and friendship, he’s helped give her the confidence to thrive at college and begin to believe that her dream of going to art college is an attainable next step. Toby is indeed a good lad.
Let’s try trundl! By Ellen, Toby and Dogs for Autism
Last month, Ellen and her Dogs for Autism dog Toby downloaded the walking app trundl.
trundl is the walking app that ‘gives as you go!’ trundl convert each stride that you take into a donation from trundl (or one its brand partners) to the members’ selected charity partners. This means that not only are you exercising but you’re giving to your favourite charity as you walk.
Eager to give it a trial run, Ellen and Toby set off into the town to see what the app was like to use for our autistic partners and their dogs.
Not long into their walk, the smell of burgers wafted through the air and caught Toby’s attention! No burgers for Toby this time, but they both enjoyed and lovely cool drink in the sunshine.
Ellen said, “I like technology and thought I’d try the app on a walk through the town with Toby my assistance dog. The notifications were good and very useful. The Community link was great; knowing that so many across the UK are walking for Dogs for Autism at the same time gave me a reassuring feeling. It’s easy to use, and I would encourage anyone to download it and give it a go. As my dad says in his northern accent, “He’s a good lad Toby!”.
In April, a ‘Community trundl’ for Dogs for Autism ran for two weeks, designed to amalgamate all the trundl’s that the app-users walked, wherever they lived in the UK. The collective money was added to by our charity partnership with Oscar Pet Foods. For every walk taken, as part of the community trundl, Oscar’s donated 20p for every kilometre completed. Thanks to their generosity, Oscar’s donated a total of £100 to Dogs for Autism and trundl topped it up with £50 more as trundl members were so enthusiastic, they smashed the first walking target! The money will be put towards new training coats and tick & flea treatments for some of the puppies in training.
Every week there is a Community trundl for one of trundl’s charity partners, so do look out for the next Community trundl for Dogs for Autism running 9th-19th May and then 21st-30th June and join in! You don’t have to have a dog to start trundling (but it helps!)
For more information about our Charity Partners here.
