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Pet Therapy comes to The Oaks Care Home

The residents of The Oaks Care Home welcomed two newborn lambs, a couple of ferrets and a cat called Tash as part of a pet therapy day.

Young volunteers from The Game Change Project visited the Newtown care home with the animals and chatted to residents.

Caring for a pet has been proven to have numerous health and wellbeing benefits as well as producing a calming effect.

Jen Roberts, Registered Manager of The Oaks Care Home, said: “Our residents had a wonderful morning with the volunteers from The Game Change Project, who brought lots of lovely animals to interact with.

“The lambs went down particularly well and the residents took it in turns to feed them milk from a bottle.

“We love welcoming animals into the home and this is the latest pet therapy visit. Everyone finds it very soothing to be close to animals and to stroke their fur.

“Last year, we had two friendly alpacas into the home, which were also a big hit. We’ve also got a therapy dog called Jess who pops in every week and we’ve arranged for some donkeys to visit in April.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming The Game Change Project back to our home on a regular basis.

Norman, a resident in The Oaks, said: “I really enjoyed seeing the lambs and they brought back some lovely memories.”

Fellow resident Pam said: “The lambs were delightful and I couldn’t believe how relaxed Tash the cat was. Such a lovely day.”

The Game Change Project is a not-for-profit organisation based on a small holding in Powys which supports young people to develop essential life skills, raise their aspirations and build their confidence.

A spokesperson said: “We had such a warm welcome from staff and residents at The Oaks. We encourage our young people to volunteer because they can get an enormous sense of satisfaction out of doing good for others and the community.

“We’re looking forward to coming back to The Oaks on a regular basis.”

 

Nestle