Guide dog Faith banks on success

FELIXSTOWE: Guide dog puppy Faith showed she had belief in a new business as she pulled the ribbon to officially mark its change of name.

FELIXSTOWE: Guide dog puppy Faith showed she had belief in a new business as she pulled the ribbon to officially mark its change of name.

The pup, whose breeding and initial training has been paid for by Evening Star readers, was at the branch of Abbey in Hamilton Road, Felixstowe, to mark the bank's rebranding as Santander.

Watched by staff and helped by her puppy walker Penny Parker, she undid the ribbon with one big tug.

Mrs Parker and her trainee guide dogs are regular visitors to the branch, which has a long-standing association with Guide Dogs for the Blind.

The branch has one of the charity's treasure boxes, in which people can place old coins, unwanted mobile phones, keys and jewellery, to help raise money.

To mark the rebranding, Santander is giving �250,000 to charity. Customers are being asked to pop in to their local branch and vote for a good cause, with each branch having �250 to give away.

The company now has more than 1,000 Santander branches across the UK, with the number set to rise to 1,300 by the end of 2010.