Keswick resident, Kerry Irving, has won a national award to celebrate his fundraising efforts for vet charity PDSA.

Kerry is the proud owner of Cumbrian canines turned social media stars, Max, Paddy and Harry. He was presented with the PDSA Fundraising Volunteer of the Year Award during a walk he organised in aid of the charity, which took place at Thirlmere, Ambleside, last Saturday (29 February).

Kerry and his clan of pooches are known for the life-changing role his dogs played in helping Kerry overcome crippling depression after a car accident left him in chronic pain. In 2018, Max and Paddy were honoured with a PDSA Commendation for providing support, comfort and joy to thousands of people.

Since then, Kerry and his beloved dogs have been travelling up and down the country, fundraising and raising vital awareness for the charity. Kerry has drawn upon their huge following of loyal social media supporters – which has risen to an astonishing 102,000 fans on Facebook alone – to arrange numerous charity walks, all of which have been sell-out events, for PDSA. He also holds an annual birthday walk for his ‘miracle’ Max, which last year raised over £4,000, with a further £1,110 generated from Facebook birthday donations. Kerry’s story has just been released as a book – ‘Max the miracle dog: The heart-warming tale of a life-saving Friendship’, which is storming up the charts.

Sally Prior, who works as part of the fundraising team at PDSA, said: “Kerry and his four-legged fundraising friends Max, Harry and Paddy are an inspiration to us all – he was the stand-out winner for our panel of judges and hugely deserving of this award.

 “His commitment to PDSA has been unparalleled. Not only has he directly fundraised for us but he’s also travelled the breadth of the country – supporting us at annual events such as Crufts, BBC Countryfile Live and DogFest. His presence at these events resulted in queues of people waiting to meet him and the boys, encouraging many donations to PDSA. He goes to great lengths for the charity putting together his own fundraising events, he even did a jetty jump with his three dogs, which raised an incredible £4,200!

“We were so pleased Kerry was able to see exactly where his vital funds were going when he visited our PDSA Pet Hospital in Gateshead, seeing the many pets in need of our life-saving care.

“Kerry really is a wonderful ambassador for PDSA. He is an impassioned fundraiser and an innovative awareness-raiser, and we are so grateful to him and his amazing canine companions. A huge thank you and congratulations Kerry, Max, Harry and Paddy on your award!

Speaking about his award, Kerry said: “I’m honoured to have been recognised with PDSA’s Fundraising Volunteer of the Year award. We were thrilled when Max and Paddy were awarded the PDSA Commendation back in 2018 for the role they have played in bringing comfort to those who need it most, and I wanted to give something back.

“We’ve had a great time fundraising and raising awareness of the charity through our many walks and events, and I’m so proud of everything the boys have achieved, so it’s wonderful to receive this award in recognition of them. The support we have had has been remarkable.

“PDSA is an amazing cause, and I’ve seen first-hand the great work its vets and nurses do, caring for people’s pets when they can't afford vets’ bills. I'm extremely grateful to everyone who donated to this wonderful charity.”

If you’re interested in fundraising for PDSA, visit: www.pdsa.org.uk/fundraise.