Fareham guide dog licks King Charles' hand as blind owner receives his MBE

Ben Good, 46, has been recognised for his incredible work supporting people who are visually impaired by being awarded with an MBE.

The Fareham civil servant was awarded by His Majesty, King Charles III, alongside his new guide dog, Stamp, who he qualified with earlier in the month.

Stamp made a bee-line towards the King when Ben was called forward, and the inquisitive pooch decided to kiss the King on the hand to say hello.

Ben said: ‘I will say that His Majesty made no attempt to distract my guide dog, she went to say hello to him rather than the other way around.

‘The ceremony was amazing, we had time beforehand to explore the castle and look at all the fantastic artwork and sculptures and take some pictures in the grounds. We were also able to meet some of the others being awarded that day, including Emma Raducanu.’

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Stamp was named by the Royal Mail parcel office in Norwich, and her puppy raiser, Richard Bussien, said how proud he was of her in the ceremony.

He said: ‘We were highly delighted to see Stamp and Ben at Windsor Castle collecting his MBE. Well-deserved for his work for visually impaired people.’

Ben has an eye condition, Retinitis Pigmentosa, and he has been registered blind since he was 21 years old. He works for HMRC as a senior manager, and he has been there since he left university.

His manager nominated him to receive the award in recognition of his invaluable work with visually impaired people through his work. When Ben joined the civil service, he decided to become part of the HMRC’s Vision Impairment network, which he is now chair of. Not only has he had an impact on the people in the network, but he is also part of a team that have established a much bigger civil service network for people with sight loss, and this has reached thousands of members.

Ben added: ‘The aim of the network is to raise awareness of barriers for people with vision impairment, share best practice across departments and create guidance for managers who might be new to the service or new to managing staff with vision impairment.

‘We’re also working to ensure all our internal functions, services and programmes are accessible and usable, and work properly with assistive technology.

‘We also set up support groups during lockdown to help people cope with the more challenging aspects of the pandemic, such as getting shopping and just some human contact where possible.’

He also played a vital role in setting up the Hampshire visually impaired football club and is vice-captain of the Hampshire visually impaired cricket club, which gives people who have problems with their sight, the opportunity to do get involved in sports.

Ben has played a huge part in paving the way for people with visual impairments, and frequently fundraises for Guide Dogs, which gives him an indispensable aid and companion in Stamp.