Liz's royal accolade (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

Liz's royal accolade

4:05pm Tuesday 18th December 2007

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A DEAF woman from Bricket Wood, who has raised more than £250,000 for hearing dogs, has been rewarded for her achievement.

Liz Arendt MBE of Enid Close, who has been profoundly deaf since 1996 following a viral infection, set up the Hertfordshire branch of the national charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People in 1998.

For ten years Liz, a former physics teacher at the City of London Girls School in London, has fundraised tirelessly to help the charity train and provide more hearing dogs for people.

The 63-year-old charity worker and other members of the committee have stood outside shops come rain or shine shaking charity tins, organised bring and buy sales and held an annual dog show to raise those all-important funds.

Last month Liz and the committee's hard work was rewarded by a letter from the Princess Royal, patron of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People and a silver plaque was presented to them by chat show host Esther Rantzen, congratulating them for their fundraising efforts.

Liz said: "I'm very pleased that it's so successful - I'm just so grateful for all the support we have had. It's wonderful to know we have been able to make dogs available for other people and to know that others have had the same benefit."

Liz, who now has cochlear implants to improve her hearing, believes she could not lead a happy and fulfilled life without her hearing dog, Maple.

Maple helps Liz every day by alerting her to the sound of the door bell, the telephone, her morning alarm and the cooker timer.

She said: "They are trained to alert us to sounds and when we are out and about they are our ambassadors - they make others aware that we have a hearing impairment."

There are currently 31 hearing dogs across the county, but Liz is hoping to increase that number by the time the Hertfordshire branch of the charity celebrates its tenth anniversary in May. But with each dog costing £5,000 to sponsor and with waiting lists for hearing dogs getting longer by the day, Liz needs others to get their fundraising skates on.

Councillor Gordon Myland, former mayor of St Albans and local president of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, said: "The Hertfordshire branch has really worked hard over the years.

"When I was Mayor of St Albans a few years ago I was asked to become president of the local branch.

"I do know the amount of effort the local branch put in. They organise a lot of collections, they organise an annual dog show and they put in a tremendous amount of work. I have nothing but praise for the effort they put in - it's just not possible to criticise."

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