Mar 2019
Animal Therapy at The Lakes Care Centre
The Lakes Care Centre in South Cerney welcomed a variety of animals to showcase the benefits of animal therapy
On Monday 4th March The Lakes Care Centre in South Cerney hosted ‘time for a cuppa’ with animal friends in conjunction with Dementia UK. The day consisted of an informative talk from our admiral nurse Nikki Rowe and our activity co-ordinator Chloe Gibbins, they talked about the positive effects animal therapy can have on those living with dementia.
Amongst those who came along to hear Nikki and Chloe talk were our resident’s family members, local professionals, volunteers plus members of the local community who are interested in dementia or animal therapy.
We also welcomed a variety of animals including - dogs, chickens, tortoises, rabbits, guinea pigs and of course the stars of the show were the gorgeous alpacas, they even came with some baby alpacas who had never been inside before, and they were adorable! Everyone was delighted to see the animals and to stroke the alpacas; their fur was very soft and thick and the change in atmosphere when the animals arrived put into practice all that Nikki and Choe had been saying.
We also held a cake sale ran by our fantastic volunteers along with a raffle which included tickets to Highgrove gardens. The raffle was drawn by some student paramedics who came along to learn more about animal therapy and we managed to raise £174.
After the talks everyone had an opportunity to see the animals and speak to our local professionals while enjoying a cup of tea and slice of cake.