Therapy pets improve wellbeing of pupils
The passion and hard work of an unusual three ‘man’ wellbeing team at a Swale school has earned a nomination for the Kent Mental Wellbeing Awards.
Officer Co-ordinator Lindsey Baker and her two therapy dogs, Sonny and Scooby, have been nominated for their outstanding work at Milton Court Primary School, giving care and support to the children and adults who need it.
The nominator said: “Their impact around the school has been amazing – children who have difficulties regulating, who suffer from anxiety and emotional based school avoidance, who are neurodiverse or who are just in need of a cuddle, have all benefited from their positive, warm and caring energy.”
Lindsey put Sonny and Scooby through therapy dog assessments, knowing what a positive impact they could have in school. The two dogs meet specific children every morning to help them into school, and throughout the day they visit classrooms and host children in the office for ‘reward time’ or a quiet period.
The impact has been huge with the dogs calming children and helping anxious little ones to return to the classroom or even help them to come to school.
The Kent Mental Wellbeing awards is an annual event designed to showcase the people, organisations and initiatives that help us cope with life. The event’s three themes are: kindness and compassion; wellbeing; mental health.
Whether it is in school, business, community or family, so many of us have been lucky to have people and organisations with ideas, tips and tactics to help us cope. It is time to celebrate those mental health and well-being champions in our community and share this best practice.
The awards will be staged in October by the mental health charity Mind in Bexley and East Kent in collaboration with a range of wellbeing and mental health organisations.
Nominations can be linked to a simple act of kindness that lifted the spirits, a business that has improved staff wellbeing, through to a targeted initiative delivered by a charity or statutory organisation to support a mental health issue.
The event is sponsored by Kent County Council, Kent Community Foundation, ADM Computing, GrainLNG – National Grid, Medway Council, Optyma Security, Wave Community Bank, Cactus Graphics and CommunityAid.
The deadline to submit nominations is noon on 1 September. Submit nominations at www.kentmentalwellbeingawards.org.uk For awards news follow @KentMWAwards on Facebook and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
