Our raffle offering you the chance to win a unique portrait of #SophieFromRomania is now closed. Thank you to everyone who participated – together we raised over £2,500 for our vital work! Read more about Rory and Sophie below.

How do you welcome someone new into your home and heart? A week before Christmas 2022, former BBC journalist, award-nominated podcaster and Cure Parkinson’s Patron Rory Cellan-Jones received a special delivery that changed the course of his life.

In January 2022, the Cellan-Jones-Coyle family said goodbye to their beloved elderly Collie Cross, Cabbage. Newly retired, Rory had become inseparable from her during daily pandemic walks which alleviated his Parkinson’s Disease symptoms. After a grief-stricken year, Rory and his wife Diane contemplated opening up their hearts again and came across a dog listing for ‘a kind girl who loves everybody and is just looking for her forever home’.

From her battles with anxiety, to the joys of play and her first foray outside – Sophie from Romania has become an internet sensation, moving so many followers of the #SophieFromRomania hashtag through her story of growing with her new family.

And now you have the chance to take home your own special delivery – a unique portrait of #SophieFromRomania by leading artist, Rosemary Burn. All proceeds from the raffle will be donated directly to Cure Parkinson’s.

The winner and runner’s up are also in with a chance of winning an exclusive signed copy of Rory’s new book, Sophie From Romania: A Year of Love and Hope with a Rescue Dog.

Related content