Today, I am proud to announce that Pads And Paws Designs have officially appointed The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association as our nominated charity for the period May 2009 - 2010.

We will support the charity in a number of ways during the period.

1. We have put in place a monthly direct debit to the "Sponsor a Puppy Appeal" so that each month we will contribute to the funding and training of a guide dog. The charity exists only as a result of volunteers and fundraising operations, so regular contributions are the lifeblood that keeps their great works going.

2. 10% from every sale made online from www.padsandpawsdesigns.com will be donated to the charity - an update on how much this equates to will be updated to this blog every quarter. This is quite a large percentage given I'm in the first year of trading, so I hope plenty of you feel encouraged to buy and "do your bit" too!

3. From May 11th I will be on a sponsored slim. I will be posting daily to my blog here with a link to my Just Giving page. Again - if you feel you'd like to support my efforts to slim and simultaneously contribute to the wonderful Guide Dogs - I'd be very grateful. I will be undertaking this challenge in tandem with Ruth Crone, founder of The People Incubator. Ruth and I "met" via Twitter; although we live at opposite ends of the country we are motivated to join forces and demonstrate the power of social media, community and the willingness of the great British public to work for the greater good even in times of economic difficulty!

Please support us in supporting The Guide Dogs for the Blind, by subscribing to our blog updates and spreading the word!