A houndly hastag and new website have been launched ahead of the return of this year’s Suffolk Dog Day.
The event, now in its 11th year, will be held at Helmingham Hall on Sunday, July 29 and is being organised by the Suffolk Community Foundation.
A dedicated team of more than 150 volunteers come together for the event each year, which has raised £500,000 for Suffolk charities since its inception.
As part of this year’s event members of the public are being encouraged to post pictures of their dogs sleeping on social media.
The competition, called #LetSleepingDogsLie, hopes to encourage the county’s dog lovers to share snapshots of their sleepy pets and aims to raise awareness of the vulnerable people which Suffolk Dog Day is hoping to support.
Tim Holder, head of public affairs at Suffolk Community Foundation, said: “Every dog owner has a cute pic of their four-legged friend asleep and #LetSleepingDogsLie will get people sharing their furry favourites on their phones, tablets and computers.
“It costs nothing to post a pic up on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, but it will also raise awareness of the needs of vulnerable people here in Suffolk and help us celebrate a few heroes in the mix for all the great work they do.
“We hope #LetSleepingDogsLie will get both tails and tongues wagging and there are some great prizes to be won too.”
One canine already raising money for a good cause is Stanley who belongs to Nick Hulme, chief executive of Ipswich and Colchester hospitals. From today to July 1 the pair will be walking the 191 miles of the Coast to Coast path.
Mr Hulme said: “My wife, Annette, made me promise when I retired we would do the Coast to Coast walk together. Sadly, she died from breast cancer in January this year. A couple of weeks before she died she made me promise that I would complete the Coast to Coast in her memory and raise some money for the Breast Unit at Ipswich Hospital and St Elizabeth Hospice, whose teams cared for her during her illness.”
To take part in this year’s competition entrants should like Suffolk Dog Day on either Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and then post a picture of their pet with their name and the hashtags #LetSleepingDogsLie and #SuffolkDogDay.
Among the prizes on offer are a family day pass to Suffolk Dog Day, a 20kg bag of Skinner’s dog food, tea for two at Ufford Park and a session of hydrotherapy.
More information about Suffolk Dog Day and the competition can be found at www.suffolkdogday.com
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