On Friday, our Chief Operating Officer, Sam Manning, brought in her 8-week old French Bulldog puppy to help spread some cheer at Excelcare's Support Office.
Sam’s dog Molly has recently had a litter of 7 puppies, one of which is named Denny. He was affectionately named by Bailey (Sam’s daughter) after her great grandad. Bailey's grandfather was living with dementia in our Bromley-based care home, Park Avenue and when Bailey told her own grandad Steve, it brought a huge smile to his face, and he was able to remember that was his dad’s name. Sadly Steve passed away on the 17th of January 2022 but Bailey and Sam take comfort in knowing that their little puppy ‘Denny’ brought a smile to his face.
Sam surprised each of the teams working at the Support Office with a visit from herself and Denny. Reactions from around the office were mostly the same, with lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘awws’ when they saw the adorable little puppy she was holding.
Team members took it in turns to say hello to Denny and enjoyed taking a short break from their desks to cuddle and play with him. The interactions with Denny certainly put everyone in a good mood, and as he moved around the office he left many smiling faces in his path.
Inside our care homes, visits from PAT (Pets As Therapy) Dogs happen frequently, when guidelines allow. These visits have a similar effect on the people living in the homes - spending time with dogs and other animals helps to provide a sense of companionship and boost well-being amongst the people who live and work there.
Seeing the heart-warming reactions and positive impact their visit had on the Support Office team, Sam has since felt inspired to think about making visits from the team's dogs more regular.
So this week, we are asking team members at our Support Office if they would like ‘Fur-iendly Friday’ to take place once a month. This will invite team members to bring in their pooches to spend the day in the office and spread delight to the people working there (subject to team approval and taking into account potential allergies).
Watch this space for updates about our pet-friendly initiatives.