Guide dog helps Ludlow man enjoy post-lockdown travel adventures
Tom suffers from a condition that means getting around during daily life can be a struggle unaided.
Tom and his Guide Dog Fin
Submitted by Joanna Kinrade
A guide dog and his owner have travelled around the UK on holiday together since lockdown was lifted in 2021.
28-year-old Tom took his black Golden Retriever Labrador cross Guide Dog, Fin, with him as he visited towns and cities across the UK
Together the pair visited almost 50 places by Christmas.
Tom from Ludlow, Shropshire has Nystagmus and contacted Guide Dogs in 2016 to apply for a dog to help build his confidence.
In 2018 he was paired with Fin and he hasn't looked back.
Tom and Fin spent 18-months together, walking their usual routes and getting into a new routine and Tom felt the benefits of having Fin straight away.
However when the first lockdown came in 2020, it meant Tom’s freedom was restricted.
During that year, Tom started planning trips to places across the UK that he wanted to visit and which having Fin would allow him to do so.
Tom and Fin’s travels began in April 2021 with a visit to Portsmouth, and they soon began travelling almost every weekend.
By the end of the year, they had visited countless places across England, south Wales, and Scotland.
Tom said he visited all of these places because he wanted to “learn the history and explore the world”.
The pair have ventured on many different forms of transport too, including a steam railway in Norfolk, a boat in Weymouth, a train in Yorkshire, and a plane up to Scotland, something that Tom had no problems with due to “helpful staff and Fin knowing when to get on and off”.
Tom said: "[I am] more confident, it reduces my anxiety. People understand more that I have needs."
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