A Team of York vets, veterinary nurses and receptionists has raised £4,772 for a cause close to their hearts.

Nine colleagues from The Minster Veterinary Practice in Salisbury Road, York, braved wind and rain to complete the Great North Run, raising £3,709.

Now VetPartners, the larger veterinary group of which Minster Vets is a part, has topped up the amount from their charity fund for a grand total of £4,772.

The money will be donated to Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, a charity that trains dogs who transform the lives of people who are hearing impaired.

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The Minster Vets team chose the charity because they provide routine healthcare and treatment for the clever canines that are trained by the charity and owned by some of their deaf clients.

They raised the money through a JustGiving page and direct donations at the practice, and the money will help train more hearing dogs that are able to alert deaf people to important and life-saving sounds they would otherwise miss – such as the smoke alarm, alarm clock and even a baby’s cry.

The Minster Vets runners were nurses Becki Hutton, Anna Fairley, Victoria Beasley and Meg Liversidge, vets Tristan Hutton, Lucy Hicklenton, Jenny Dabbs and Max Vesty, along with receptionist Sammie Brown.

Victoria said: “We chose the charity because we have seen first-hand the important work done by Hearing Dogs for Deaf People and we are so grateful to all of our clients who donated and sponsored us to do the Great North Run.

“The cost to train and support each hearing dog throughout their lifetime is £40,000 so the charity relies heavily on supporters to help them change lives.

“We all trained really hard for the run and it was great to be able to do this together as a team.”

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People has matched thousands of dogs with deaf people since the charity was launched in 1982. It currently has more than 1,100 working hearing dog partnerships across the UK.