RGT Volunteers Scoop National Award

The Retired Greyhound Trust (RGT) is delighted to reveal that East Midlands branch lead volunteers John and Judith Morton have been awarded the prestigious title of Volunteer of the Year at the Ceva Animal Welfare Awards held in Birmingham last month. To further recognise their hard work the pair also made the top three in judging for the Petplan and Association of Dogs and Cats Homes Volunteer of the Year award.   

The Award is described by Ceva, an organisation dedicated to improving veterinary knowledge, as being for someone who, through their amazing dedication and tenacity, has helped improve animal welfare and who, in their own time, goes above and beyond the call of duty to help improve the lives of animals.

Lisa Morris-Tomkins, Chief Executive of the RGT said, ‘John and Judith have been involved in homing greyhounds for around 20 years, 16 of which running their own branch at Sutton on Trent. They have homed around 1400 greyhounds in that time and despite huge recent setbacks to each of them personally, continue to dedicate their lives 7 days a week to homing these wonderful dogs. They absolutely deserve this recognition for their fantastic work. 

‘This is the second time in the 5 years Ceva have run the awards that RGT volunteers have been given this amazing award after Johanna Beumer won it back in 2014, which I believe is a clear demonstration of the dedication and passion of our volunteers. The fact that John and Judith also made the top three out of a huge number of nominations for the Petplan Charity Awards also really shows how they have absolutely gone the extra mile in working to help retired greyhounds find loving homes.’

John Morton commented, ‘Judith and I are delighted to receive this award, and to make the top three with Petplan for their awards too is just fantastic. It really means the world to us to have this great opportunity to highlight the work that we, and our fellow volunteers, do every day. We love greyhounds and working to educate people in understanding what amazing companions they make but it’s wonderful to be publicly recognised for our hard work over the years. We would also like to thank all those who have supported us along the way to help us achieve what we have thus far.

‘We have around 30 greyhounds in our care at any one time whilst we work to find them a home and would love to hear from anyone interested in adopting a greyhound to discuss their situation and arrange a visit to our kennels to see for themselves what wonderful pets they make.’

To find out more about homing a greyhound from John and Judith Morton please visit http://www.rgtmidlands.co.uk/ or call 07734 052659.