Ben is a SeBPRA trustee and helps behind the scenes as well as running the online shop and fundraising

I first became aware of SeBPRA in November 2017 when we adopted our first rescue dog, Remy, a blind Gordon Setter. At this point I wasn’t even aware there were Setters in Spain, until I received a text one lunchtime, and straight away we decided we should adopt her as we felt we had a great setup for her. Later that night we were on the phone and the rest is history. Remy slotted straight into our family with Mack (Irish Setter) and Alf (English Setter). She is an inspiring little creature as despite everything she has been through she has a real lust for life.

Fast forward to April 2018 when I started becoming more involved in the group. I started with one thing in mind, to help rehome as many dogs as possible. I am generally not involved directly in adoptions, I mainly organise the fundraising, accounts, t-shirt/calendar designs and complete homechecks etc etc. I really enjoy completing the homechecks, in particular meeting any resident dogs. They are a great opportunity to meet new adopters and just talk about dogs! I would highly recommend to anyone who would like to help out. If you are a potential adopter in the North East there is a very good chance it will be me completing your homecheck, and for reference it is tea with milk and one sugar!

By trade I am a Quantity Surveyor but outside of work I spend a lot of time at the post office (who knew it took so long to process over 50 packs of Christmas cards) and doing dog/SeBPRA related activities. My idea of a perfect Sunday is a good dog walk before coming back and watching football. After 7 years I am still trying to make Mack a Man Utd fan, though I think I am nearly there with Alf! Being involved with SeBPRA been a really rewarding experience so far, and I am excited to see where the group goes in the future.