We are all probably familiar with the sight of a guide dog in a bright yellow harness walking alongside its owner.

But we may not stop to think about the vital work of the dedicated team of volunteers who are behind every dog providing a lifeline to someone with vision loss.

The guide dog service transforms the lives of around 4,700 blind and partially sighted people every year but the charity needs the support of local volunteers to raise the funds needed to provide this service. The lifetime cost of a guide dog is £50,000.

The Medway branch of Guide Dogs, one of the Medway Messenger’s charities of the year for 2017, has been running for almost 50 years.

The band of helpers give up their spare time to raise funds and raise awareness and to train the dogs when they are puppies.

The branch has a committee of eight local volunteers and is headed by puppy walkers Fiona and Brian Byers.

The couple has helped to train more than 30 puppies during their time with Guide Dogs. Every Guide Dog starts its journey with a volunteer like Fiona or Brian. Dogs will go to live with puppy walkers from around eight weeks.

The volunteers will help give them all the training, direction and social skills they need to go on to become a working guide dog. This can range from basic obedience and going to the toilet on command, to getting a dog used to crowded places or trains.

Last year the Medway branch raised £38,000 which included the funds to sponsor a puppy called Bumble.

This year they hope to raise even more and have set themselves a target of £50,000 which is how much a guide dog costs from training it as a puppy, to providing support throughout its working life and retirement.

Through its partnership with the Medway Messenger the branch hopes to add £5,000 to its fundraising pot. If this is achieved the Medway Messenger will be able to name a future guide dog and we plan to get our readers involve with choosing a name.

The branch has a busy calendar of activities and fundraisers planned. This includes bucket collections, school fetes, a quiz night, coffee morning, parachute jump and appearances at events such as the Dickens Festival.

The puppies in training will be at most of these so the public can meet the dogs and speak to the puppy walkers.

Volunteers will also be taking part in the KM charity fundraisers including the Medway Big Quiz and the KM abseil and they are calling on readers to support them by signing up to take part themselves.

The volunteers give as many talks and demonstrations as they can at schools, clubs and businesses to raise awareness of Guide Dogs and encourage people of all ages to organise their own fundraising events.

In return for the money raised, the Guide Dogs gives fundraisers the chance to become part of a dog’s life-changing story by naming a puppy. Businesses can name a puppy if they raise £5,000 while schools can pick a name if they collect £350.

Both will receive updates to find out how their dogs are getting on and those who collect the higher amount will also receive a visit from the puppy they sponsor.

Vanessa Johnson, from the Guide Dogs Medway branch, said: “We have more than 50 years of experience between us.

“Having a guide dog gives independence to a visually impaired person and this is what is important to the puppy walkers that train the puppies.”

She added: “Guide Dogs receives no government funding and relies entirely on public generosity to fund its services.”