Mold Rotarians hear about Guide Dogs for the Blind and Patagonia visit

The club's first speaker was Ruth Evans, a volunteer with Guide Dogs for the Blind.

A spokesman for the club said: "In a well illustrated talk, Ruth related how the society was formed in the early 1930’s with two dogs.

"The breeds now used are Labradors, Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds and most recently a Labrador - Poodle cross which does not shed so much hair as the other breeds.

"Perhaps Guide Dogs' most well remembered publicity was the Blue Peter appeal to collect silver foil and bottle tops to fund the training of two guide dog puppies. "Nowadays, it costs over £55,000 to rear, train, feed and ensure the health of a puppy over its working life of about ten years.

"There are over 4,800 in service in the United Kingdom. In spite of legislation, dogs are often not permitted in some places, such as restaurants or other places involved with food.

"The Guide Dogs charity works with guide dog users and companies to both raise awareness of the law.

"Recently, the Association has been involved in the campaigns against Pavement Parking, but no progress has been made.

"Ruth’s talk elicited several questions and members of the Club showed their appreciation to the speaker in the usual manner."

Members also welcomed Marged Selway-Jones of Mold.

The spokesman added: "In 2019 the Club had granted some sponsorship to Marged, to enable her to join a group of young people to visit an area of Patagonia under the auspices of Urdd Gobaith Cymru.

"That part of South America was first colonised in 1865 by Welsh settlers. "Marged’s report back was very well prepared and delivered with confidence.

"She gave a comprehensive background to the journey with fascinating illustrations of the places the group had visited, the people they had met and interesting facts and figures.

"Members of the Rotary Club was most appreciative of her personal account of the visit to Patagonia and her report to us. We wish her well in her future career."