Wilson, the Guide Dog puppy sponsored by David Wilson Homes, has scored top marks in his first report card confirming that he is progressing well and is on track to become the eyes of a visually impaired person.

The yellow Labrador puppy, which is now over 11 months old, has received an excellent grade for his health, handling skills, command work and socialisation experience although he could do with improving on his toilet routine.

Staff working for the housebuilder helped to raise the some £5,000 which was needed to sponsor Wilson through his Guide Dog training. He is currently based with puppy walkers Richard and Pam Nash in Northampton and will start his formal training when he is around the age of 14 months.

This lasts for between three and nine months and then Wilson will go on to become the eyes of a visually impaired person and will provide years of active service to its owner until he retires around the age of 10.

Philip Lacey, Sales Director at David Wilson East Midlands, comments "Just like proud parents, we were extremely pleased to hear that Wilson is progressing so well with training.

"He recently visited our head office where he met our mascot, Wellington, for the first time and the two seemed to really hit it off.

"As a company, we've had a long standing relationship with Guide Dogs, it's a fantastic cause and we're delighted that through the Name a Puppy Initiative and our sponsorship of Wilson that we are able to support the charity in such a positive way."

Alison Selby, Regional Development Fundraiser for Guide Dogs explains: "We rely almost entirely on voluntary donations to fund our services and David Wilson Homes has really embraced their fundraising challenge by naming a Guide Dog puppy. We're extremely grateful to everyone from David Wilson Homes for supporting Wilson and continuing to support our charity."

David Wilson is currently building a selection of quality new homes throughout the East Midlands, from Rugby in the south to Sutton-in-Ashfield in the north. To find out more call the sales hotline on 0844 811 5544 or log on to the website at www.dwh.co.uk

David Wilson East Midlands was given a five star rating in this year's HBF Customer Satisfaction Survey, in which consumers are asked if they are satisfied with the quality of their new home and whether they would recommend their builder to a friend.

For added peace of mind, buyers can also benefit from David Wilson's new five year guarantee on fixtures and fittings in their new home at the time of purchase. Items covered at no extra cost to the buyer will include appliances such as washing machines and refrigerators, kitchen units, wardrobes, the central heating system, fires, doors, windows, drainage, the hot and cold plumbing system and even the driveway.

-  Ends -

NOTES TO EDITORS

1)    For further information about David Wilson East Midlands please contact Bethan James or Hannah Elwell, Unsworth Sugden, on 01162 471777 or bethan@unsworthsugden.co.uk or hannah@unsworthsugden.co.uk

2)    David Wilson Homes is part of Barratt Group, which sold 11,171 homes in the last financial year, making it the biggest housebuilder by volume in Britain.

3)    Barratt Group was awarded a maximum five star rating for the second consecutive year in the 2011 Home Builders Federation Customer Satisfaction Survey.

4)    In 2011 site managers working for Barratt Group won the highest number of NHBC Pride in the Job Quality Awards for a record seventh consecutive year.

5)    Barratt Group was named Housebuilder of the Year at the Daily Telegraph British Homes Awards 2010.

6)    Barratt Group is the only housebuilder to guarantee the fixtures and fittings in place at the time of purchase of its new homes for five years.

7)    Barratt Group is also one of Britain's foremost sustainable housebuilders. It has now started on site at the Hanham Hall development near Bristol which will be the first Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6 community in the UK when it is completed.

8)    Images of a selection of developments are available to the media at

http://www.barrattdevelopments.co.uk/barratt/en/media/mediakit/lib