THE HUNT is on to find the paw-fect volunteer to bring a smile to hospital staff and patients.
To celebrate Love Your Pet Day, on February 20, Pets in Hospital Volunteers are looking to expand their cohort with another volunteer for Good Hope Hospital.
The Pets in Hospital visits to wards and departments across University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) are a firm favourite with staff and patients.
At present volunteers visit patients on a weekly at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, Heartlands Hospital and Solihull Hospital.
Lloyd, the Golden Retriever, visits patients and staff at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham with his owner, Sarah.
Sarah, said: “There is a genuine enjoyment for us seeing Lloyd ‘at work’ – though it’s hard to justify the term ‘work’ when one hears and sees the obvious pleasure his greetings bring to the patients and staff alike, it’s more like a pleasure boat ride for him and it seems for others too.
“That said, having had the wealth of experience of training him we do know how the journey to what he’s doing now was always about a life dedicated to service and it’s terrific that we are able to share this character filled goldie with others here at the hospital.”
Good Hope Hospital Charity is currently looking for its own four-legged volunteer, for weekly visits to brighten our patients’ day.
No experience is needed to volunteer, just a friendly, approachable manner and a love of meeting new people.
Full training is provided and the Charity has a dedicated Volunteer Co-ordinator to offer support and advice to volunteers.
To keep the scheme going, the charity is also looking for donors to sponsor a dog for £30 a month.
The money raised through sponsorship helps the charity to cover the costs of the assessments, training, and equipment needed for the dogs to be able to visit the ward and departments across the trust.
All dogs participating in Pets in Hospitals as a volunteer must always be accompanied by their owner, be at least three years old and in good health.
To become a Pets in Hospitals volunteer at Good Hope Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Heartlands Hospital or Solihull Hospital, or to find out more about sponsoring a dog, click here.
