Meet Annie, Lottie, Teddi and Ralphie - special four-legged guests at Hope’s University Mental Health Day.
The canine companions visited Hope Park campus from Therapy Dogs Nationwide, a non-profit charity that sends dogs into a variety of settings, from schools and hospitals to nursing homes and prisons.
The pooches can provide emotional support and reassurance to a wide range of people, from a child learning to read to someone coping with post-traumatic stress syndrome.
And for University Mental Health Day, the dogs lifted the spirits of hundreds of Hope students.
Stephanie Trujillo, VP Welfare and Community from the Students’ Union and who helped to organise the event, says the session in the Chaplaincy proved such a monumental success, she’s hoping to repeat it every month.
Clare Grimshaw, Area Team Leader for Therapy Dogs Nationwide, patted her dog Ralphie - a 19 month old Cockapoo - on the head while saying: “I’ve got the best job in the world.
(Clare Grimshaw with Ralphie, above)
“I get to meet all of these wonderful students and see the smiles on their faces. Students have been through an awful lot this past couple of years but they’re also our future. I’m inspired by what they do.
“And if the dogs have been able to lower student stress levels and boost their wellbeing, then that’s brilliant. For me, I like to think of the therapy dogs as a little injection of sunshine.”
Another volunteer, Alice Wignall, also joined the session with her beloved two-year-old border collie Annie.
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(Annie and owner Alice, above)
Alice explains how Annie has been through special training to ensure she’s enthusiastic but not over-exuberant when meeting new people.
She adds: “The most rewarding thing for me is seeing the difference the therapy dogs can make. We’ve been on dementia wards where an older person might not have spoken for two weeks.
“But when the dogs visit, all of a sudden they start to engage again. You can see the joy on their faces.”
The other two canine visitors were Lottie, a three-year-old golden retriever, and Teddi, an eight-year-old cockapoo.
(Teddi, above)
Elsewhere there was a full programme of events for University Mental Health Day organised by the Student Development and Wellbeing office, the Chaplaincy, Our Place, Hope Park Sports, the Community Engagement Team, the Residential Life team and the Library.
(Lottie, above)
External organisations such as the Young Persons Advisory Service (YPAS), the rape and sexual abuse support charity RASA and the Women's Health Information & Support Centre (WHISC) - among others - also took part in a Mental Health Fair for students to learn more about the services available to them when it comes to wellbeing.