It also held its annual Fun Night in July raising £223.00 for the Club’s chosen charity, the Cinnamon Trust, with a further £128.00 being raised at the Club’s Christmas Party with a fun selection of games for dogs accompanied by their humans. As always, the most popular had been Temptation Alley where dogs were challenged to run to their owners, ignoring the row of sausages, either side of them!
The Club gave out its Annual Awards at the Meeting and the proud recipients can be seen in the photo below.
The greatest highlight of the year was the Club’s celebration of its 70th Anniversary 1954-2024 on 23rd October 2024 at the Royal Victoria Hotel, St Leonard's on Sea.
Money was raised by the founder members of the Club in the early 1950's by holding demonstrations in Alexandra Park every August where dogs would even jump through fire hoops. These demonstrations were sold out and became a great summer tourist attraction. The money raised enabled the Club to be set up in 1954. The Club also ran a Championship Obedience show for many years which is still remembered for its quirky venue at the old Bathing Pool site. The show lasted for the whole weekend and even included a Dinner Dance for all participants on the Saturday night.
Hastings and St Leonards Dog Training Club now offers Puppy/Beginner Courses to new owners based on the Kennel Club Good Citizen Puppy Foundation syllabus and then progression through all the Kennel Club Good Citizen Award Schemes which cover Bronze, Silver and Gold levels. More advanced training is then offered to those who want their dogs to further develop their skills in the Gold Plus class.
The Club has also supported numerous charities over the years making substantial donations to Guide Dogs for the Blind, Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, Medical Detection Dogs, Help for Heroes, Battersea Dogs Home, RNLI and Canine Partners to name but a few. At this year’s Annual General Meeting, the members had to choose a new charity for the Club to support for the next three years.The Club’s charity, which it has supported for the last five years, is the Cinnamon Trust. The members saw two presentations, one for Medical Detection Dogs and the other for Street Vets. The membership chose Street Vets, a charity which provides veterinary care to dogs who are living on the streets with their homeless owners.
Over the years, the Club’s membership has produced Crufts Obedience Champions, its instructors have judged, won and competed at Crufts as well as judging and stewarding at competitive and companion dog shows. The Club is run entirely by volunteers, some of whom have been active in the Club since the 70’s and 80’s. The Club has always been very mindful that Hastings & St Leonard’s is classed as a deprived area so prices have always remained affordable. The Club has played a huge role in ensuring that the people of the area can become knowledgeable, educated dog owners with well behaved, trained and sociable companion dogs.
The Club’s 70th Anniversary represented 70 years of service to the dog owning community of Hastings, St Leonards and the surrounding Rother areas.The event was attended by over 70 members past and present. The Cinnamon Trust gave an excellent talk about their amazing work. A raffle was held in aid of this wonderful charity which provides permanent care for the animals of the elderly and terminally ill.The raffle prizes were provided by Royal Canin, Burns Dog Food, The Royal Victoria Hotel, Victoria Tyres, Good on Greens, Pet Express (Hastings), Tesco Hollington Superstore, Hair Shed, Pets at Home and Tails of St Leonards raising £500.00 for the charity. A beautiful celebration cake was made by one of the Club’s members and a display of the Club’s History highlighted the Club’s many achievements.
In times where everything is done for profit, it is refreshing to celebrate one of the many local Clubs that provide a service to the Community and yet is operated entirely by volunteers, where would the world be without volunteers! If you have a dog that needs training, visit the Club’s website, hastingsandstleonardsdogtraining.weebly.com. The Club’s next Puppy/Beginner Course will begin on 11/6/25.