Volunteers

To see the smiles and enjoyment on the children’s faces is always heartwarming. To witness the children listening intently and following instruction form unfamiliar adults is great.

One of our residents who is living with being blind prefers spending time in her room as she becomes very anxious. This visit has made her day, she wrapped her arms around the donkey and said ‘Thank you’.

The highlight of our visit today was that animal lovers all said how lovely it was to see the donkeys come into their home and talked excitedly about them. The resident’s faces lit with joy when they were able to stroke them. There was laughter and an amazing atmosphere/“buzz” about the home. One bedbound resident who very rarely smiles didn’t want to participate but appeared calmer and her expression changed to showing happiness when they saw the donkey.

The highlight was to see a man with a terminal illness smiling and laughing and and watching the face of a lady with dementia light up as she talked to the donkey.

It has been such a brilliant afternoon, to see patients and their families create such heartfelt memories is priceless!

The donkeys bring a bit of magic to our residents day, the residents forget their situation for a while, they cant help smiling (or rather beaming) as they meet the donkeys and chat for a long time about seeing them.

We loved seeing patients and staff enjoying time stroking, grooming, walking and talking to the donkeys. It was amazing to see patient’s reactions and interactions to these beautiful animals. Everyone that saw them could not help but smile.