Speaker service

Our volunteer speakers are critical to the success of Guide Dogs and a good speaker can inspire an audience in many ways. Often it is through meeting, listening, seeing and learning from one of our volunteer speakers that people feel they know about Guide Dogs. There is no charge for a speaker, however, donations are gladly accepted.


We are currently experiencing a high demand for our volunteer speakers. Please submit your request a minimum of 12 weeks in advance and note in areas where a local volunteer speaker is not available, we may offer a virtual talk via video call as an alternative.

Our amazing 1500+ volunteer speakers are critical to our success. They motivate and raise awareness about their own personal life-changing experiences as a:

  • guide dog owner
  • My Sighted Guide partnership
  • puppy raiser (formerly called a puppy walker)
  • dog fosterer
  • breeding dog holder
  • volunteer
  • fundraiser

All of our motivational speakers help raise awareness and funds to support our mission, to make sure that no one living with sight loss is left out of life! They can offer a variety of fascinating talks that cater to all kinds of audiences:

  • community groups
  • social clubs
  • schools
  • youth groups
  • corporate businesses

Speakers often bring along info leaflets, run simple interactive sessions for adults and children (where available) and can give you loads of fundraising ideas!

We rely on our network of amazing volunteers to fulfil our speaker requests, so please allow four weeks notice when booking your talk. If, however, your request is urgent and needs a quicker response, please telephone us on 0345 143 0192.

Our talks are free but we do rely on the generosity of donations to continue our charities work.

What would you like to hear about?

Every penny counts

All the money you raise will help people living with sight loss lead the life they choose. Complete our pay in your fundraising form for the quickest and easiest way to pay in your fundraising. If you'd prefer to pay in your fundraising via another payment method, you can find out more on our paying in your fundraising page.

Contact us

The speaker service is coordinated from local centres and if there is any other information you need we’d love to hear from you!

0345 143 0192