Belhaven Hill's Annual Dog Show

The glorious sunshine provided the perfect backdrop for a wonderfully happy and perfectly chaotic afternoon at the Belhaven Dog Show! It was lovely to see so many families enjoying themselves and, of course, such an impressive collection of our four-legged members of the Belhaven community.

The competition was fierce, with classes ranging from Best Puppy and Best Older Dog to Waggyest Tail, Most Appealing Eyes, Best Trick and the always entertaining Dog Most Like Its Owner. There was even a prize for the Best Fancy-Dressed Dog. Alongside the serious business of judging came Dog Poo Bingo, an agility course and the rather less predictable (dis)obedience and retrieval trials!

Events such as these are a lovely part of school life. They bring children, parents and staff together, away from the normal routines of the school day and remind us just how fortunate we are to have such a warm and supportive community.

The Dog show raised the impressive sum of £1528.63, which will be shared between The Ridge and the PTFA. The Ridge aims to provide local, effective, personalised and holistic support for local people to help them move beyond dependency towards contribution and fulfilment.

No events like this, however, happen without a considerable amount of work behind the scenes. My particular thanks go to our wonderful PTFA and especially to its Chair, Katie Gladstone, who put an enormous amount of effort into organising such a successful afternoon. I am also hugely grateful to all the parents and staff who gave their time to run the many stands and stalls, and to our judges who took on the unenviable task of choosing the winners.