Brewery and retailer Heron and Brearley has announced that Guide Dogs for the Blind will be its charity partner for 2017.

Marketing manager Marie Kinvig said: ’For 2017, we wanted to support a charity with a positive, life-changing impact and the guide dog service achieves just that, transforming the lives of more than 10,000 blind and partially-sighted people every year. As such we are raising funds across the H&B Group to name and sponsor the training of two guide dog puppies.

’It’s also a cause which is beneficial to both the Isle of Man and the UK and so it is an ideal choice for H&B, as the group expands across the UK within our distribution centre and our pub retailing estate, which is made up of dog-friendly sites.’

It takes around 20 months to transform a small puppy into a confident and fully-trained guide dog and it is estimated that, in total, guide dogs provide around two million days of mobility each year to blind and partially-sighted people.