Buckinghamshire charity Medical Detection Dogs receives large donation from People's Postcode Lottery

Medical Detection Dogs, a charity which trains dogs to save lives using their incredible sense of smell, will increase its pawprint around the UK thanks to a £250,000 donation from players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

Medical Alert Assistance Dogs are trained to alert people with complex health conditions when they are in danger of having a potentially life-threatening episode so they can take the necessary action and prevent hospital admission.

The donation from the People's Postcode Lottery will enable Medical Detection Dogs to carry out even more life-saving work nationally, funding instructors and support staff around the UK who will be able to offer more care for existing clients and help expand the service.

Conditions such as diabetes, severe allergies, unexplained hypoglycemia and blackouts are among those that the dogs can be trained to detect and alert well before their human partner is aware that an episode is about to occur.

Medical Detection Dogs CEO, Dr Claire Guest, said: “We are extremely thankful to players of People’s Postcode Lottery for helping us further our work to train medical alert assistance dogs to save lives.

“The players’ kindness means we can better support our existing clients, increase the number of applications we can consider throughout the UK and raise awareness of our work.

“It also means that wherever you are in the UK, you can get involved with Medical Detection Dogs as we develop and grow our regional support groups.”

Because dogs are able to detect tiny odour concentrations, around one part per trillion (the equivalent of one teaspoon of sugar in two Olympic sized swimming pools), they can potentially detect diseases much earlier than is currently possible.

Medical Detection Dogs receives no government funding for its work and relies entirely on the generosity of donations from trusts and the public.

Lisa Belletty from the charities team at People’s Postcode Lottery said: “We are thrilled that players are able to support Medical Detection Dogs to reach more people with complex and life-threatening conditions. I’m looking forward to hearing about the partnerships that are formed between these amazing dogs and the people whose lives they are enriching.”

For more information about Medical Detection Dogs visit: www.medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk

Follow them on Twitter: @MedDetectDogs and Facebook: @Medical Detection Dogs