Dogs and their walkers will be raising funds for charity at the inaugural Big Teignmouth Dog Walk on October 7, and registration is now open for limited spaces.
Everyone is welcome, including walkers without dogs. There’ll be two walks on the day of one and five kilometres. The one-kilometre walk is fully accessible for pushchairs and wheelchairs. The registration fee includes an event wristband and refreshments on the day.
Two Teignmouth business women, Jo Gask of The Healthy Pet Shop and Emma Schooling of Schooling Builders, have teamed up to put on this charity event which is raising funds for PDSA and CoppaFeel.
The one-kilometre walk is from The Den, past the pier, up to the lido and back again, all on a level surface. The five-kilometre walk is along the beach up to Sprey Point and back again, during low tide.
All dogs, and possibly their owners, are being encouraged to dress up, with prizes going to the best fancy dress. A tombola will be running at a start and finish tent with pet prizes.
Jo and Emma hope to make this an annual event and increase it in size every year, giving Teignmouth a popular October event to raise money for charity and bring extra visitors to the town after the season has finished. They already have the support of many local businesses in town, sponsoring the event in its inaugural year.
Jo has been a regular fundraiser through her pet shop business raising money for the PDSA. Emma has raised more than £6,000 for CoppaFeel, a breast cancer charity, during the past two years.
They said: ‘Entrants are encouraged to sign up early as places are limited. You could one day be looking back at what will hopefully grow, year on year, and say I was at the first one.’
Entry forms can be downloaded at www.healthypetshop.co or picked up at the Healthy Pet Shop and other shops and cafes throughout Teignmouth town centre.