We are a small family venture based in Herefordshire, UK, who have several friends and family affected by Autism or long-term Mental Health problems. Unfortunately, despite the prevalence of these conditions, support services for people with these conditions are few and far between (or entirely absent, if you’re an Autistic adult in Hereford!).

We came across the concept of service dogs for conditions beyond physical disabilities while researching other sources of assistance for our friends – and were so thrilled by the positive aspects these specially trained animals bring to their owners’ lives.

Unfortunately, our hopes were dashed almost immediately as there is currently no way for an autistic adult or adult with mental health problems to access one of these highly-sought after dogs, with the only charity currently providing them free of charge in the UK so swamped with applicants that its waiting lists have been closed for several years.

At the moment, the last option for people whose lives would be transformed by having a service dog, is to buy one for themselves; and as you can imagine, the price is pretty steep.

It costs a fraction short of £7,000 to raise and train a service dog to help people with autism or mental health problems. Seven thousand pounds that people whose lives are already quite disrupted have to somehow find. It’s a cost that many find inconceivable – certainly we did at first.

However, we’ve never been ones to sit back and let things roll over us. After a few months of sitting on the idea of fundraising, we thought: “if we don’t, who will?”.

And that brings us to where we are now: setting up a small venture to sell gifts and jewellery that we love, with 100% of our profits going to a very good cause close to our hearts!