Sorry that it's been a long time since our last newsletter, but with COVID, lockdown and changes in the team (see below) it's been a difficult period for all.

Retirement of Judith Jones, Executive Director, European Guide Dog Federation

Back in 2013, Judith Jones stepped up to become Executive Director of the European Guide Dog Federation with a brief to finalise a European project that had been underway for nearly 3 years.
Seven years later she has decided it is finally time to retire and stepped down at the beginning of August.
During her tenure, Judith helped to build the membership so that it now covers over 40 organisations in 24 European Countries in addition she:

Professionalised our conference organisation so that it became a valuable platform for all members and others close to our organisation
Established the unique position of EGDF as an organisation which represents persons with disabilities so that our voice could be recognised across Europe.
Developed Memorandums of Understanding with Assistance Dogs Europe and the International Guide Dog Federation, so that we could work together as a strong cohesive unit.
Formed strong membership relationships with the European Disability Forum which represents 100 million persons with disabilities across Europe and the European Blind Union which represents over 30 million people with sight loss in the same area.
Took a prominent role in helping to establishing the first guide dog school in Turkey.

Following an initiative from Darinka Lecnik-Urbancl in Slovenia, Judith was instrumental in establishing a movement to develop the first European Standard for Assistance Dogs CEN/TC/452 which is still in development.

We wish Judith all the best in her well deserved retirement and hope to see her attending our next conference, when ever that is allowed to take place.

New Executive Director for the European Blind Union

Mokrane Boussaïd, EBU Executive Director since 1993, retired on 30 April. For more than 27 years he had been the centre of the EBU office and secretariat in Paris.

The EGDF Board thank him for his co-operation and wish him a long and happy retirement.

The new Executive Director appointed in March is Lars Bosselmann, a blind German national who worked in Brussels in various roles, promoting the rights of persons with disabilities in the development policies of the European Union.

We look forward to meeting with Lars in Paris when the COVID-19 restrictions allow us to travel again and wish him well in his new position

White Cane Safety Day - 15th October

European Guide Dog Federation was represented by Roswitha Warda in an interview on RTL Radio Luxenbourg. For those of you that speak German, you can listen to the interview here:
https://www.rtl.lu/radio/reportage/s/3285787.html

2020 Conference

We had hoped to have our conference in Greece this year, but in common with all other conferences, we have had to defer this to some date in the future, we will let you know as soon as we have better news

We leave you as we started - back in lockdown.

We hope you all keep safe and well during these unprecedented times.

New EGDF Executive Director Designate

Jane Richards joined us as Executive Director Designate on Monday 3rd August and looks forward making everyones acquaintance as the COVID 19 lockdown eases.

Member's Corner

We would love to hear from you and learn about, and from, your experiences.
If you would like your organisation to be featured in a future newsletter, please send us a few details about what you do and any stories you'd like to share.
Send to JaneRichards@EGDFed.org

Copyright © 2015 European Guide Dog Federation, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
Marston Grange, Shuckburgh Road, Priors Marston, Warwickshire, CV47 7RS, England
Telephone: +44(0)1327 720027
Email: JaneRichards@EGDFed.org

unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences

This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this? unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences
European Guide Dog Federation · Marston Grange · Shuckburgh Road · Priors Marston, Warwickshire CV47 7RS · United Kingdom

Sorry that it's been a long time since our last newsletter, but with COVID, lockdown and changes in the team (see below) it's been a difficult period for all.

Retirement of Judith Jones, Executive Director, European Guide Dog Federation

Professionalised our conference organisation so that it became a valuable platform for all members and others close to our organisation

Established the unique position of EGDF as an organisation which represents persons with disabilities so that our voice could be recognised across Europe.

Developed Memorandums of Understanding with Assistance Dogs Europe and the International Guide Dog Federation, so that we could work together as a strong cohesive unit.

Formed strong membership relationships with the European Disability Forum which represents 100 million persons with disabilities across Europe and the European Blind Union which represents over 30 million people with sight loss in the same area.

Took a prominent role in helping to establishing the first guide dog school in Turkey.

Following an initiative from Darinka Lecnik-Urbancl in Slovenia, Judith was instrumental in establishing a movement to develop the first European Standard for Assistance Dogs CEN/TC/452 which is still in development.

New Executive Director for the European Blind Union

White Cane Safety Day - 15th October

Jane Richards joined us as Executive Director Designate on Monday 3rd August and looks forward making everyones acquaintance as the COVID 19 lockdown eases.