The Queen will visit West Sussex
30th November 2017
Her Majesty The Queen will undertake two engagements in West Sussex on Thursday, 30th November 2017.
Engagement 1:
The Queen will visit Canine Partners in Midhurst, West Sussex. Her Majesty will meet young dogs and their volunteer ‘puppy parents’ who take the puppies from the age of 8 weeks, implementing a programme of basic training until the age of 12-14 months when they are ready to start assistance dog training. The Queen will then view a demonstration by assistance dogs in their final stages of training, which involves opening doors, pulling clothes out of a washing machine and using an ATM.
After this, Her Majesty will view the accommodation used by partners who are meeting and training their assistance dogs, and meet partners and staff in the kitchen.
Engagement 2:
The Queen will visit Chichester Festival Theatre, where she will watch a performance by Chichester Festival Youth Theatre, including a scene from their forthcoming Christmas production Beauty and the Beast. Songs from CFT’s production of Fiddler on the Roof will also be performed by Omid Djalili, Simbi Akande, Lucinda Lawrence and Rose Shalloo.
Canine Partners is a registered charity that assists people with physical disabilities to enable them to enjoy greater independence and a better quality of life. Where possible the charity helps people with disabilities into education and employment through the provision of specially trained assistance dogs. As part of this partnership, the well-being of the dogs is also a key consideration. Canine Partner dogs are trained to perform tasks such as opening and closing doors for their wheelchair-using partners, retrieving dropped items, loading and unloading washing machines, helping their partners to undress and getting help in case of emergency. As well as providing practical assistance, the dogs provide companionship, emotional support and increased opportunities for the human partner to interact with members of the public. The Charity currently has nearly 400 dogs partnered with disabled people across the UK, all of whom receive regular aftercare support visits at home. Canine Partners works closely with other charities where it is beneficial to do so, including Guide Dogs, Hearing Dogs, Help for Heroes and The Royal British Legion.
Chichester Festival Theatre is one of the UK’s flagship theatres, renowned for the high standard of its productions as well as its work with the community and young people. Founded in 1962, the Festival Theatre’s thrust stage design makes it one of England’s most striking playhouses; a studio theatre, the Minerva Theatre, sits nearby. The annual Festival season runs from April to November, during which productions originated at Chichester reach an audience of over 200,000; many transfer to the West End or tour nationally and internationally. Year-round programming continues through the winter with the Theatre presenting high-class touring productions, as well as a traditional Christmas show mounted by Chichester Festival Youth Theatre, one of the largest youth theatres in the country.
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