Peer mentors from SIG Pathways recently volunteered at Happy Pants Animal Rescue, to demonstrate the kind of community projects clients can get involved in.
The Pathways outreach peer mentor coordinator Donna and some of the peer mentors and clients at Pathways experienced something different a on a Monday morning a few weeks ago.
Happy Pants Animal Rescue is a little haven for over 300 unwanted and abandoned animals in Sittingbourne. Turkeys, pigs, chickens, ducks, pigs, dogs, cats, cockerels, chickens and tortoises all reside at the farm.
Pathways were lucky to arrange for five people which included the peer mentor coordinator to have an introductory session at the farm which will then enable them to become volunteers at the farm. Their duties included mucking out, preparing and feeding the animals, as well as general tidying and DIY.
Donna was inundated with volunteers wanting to take part, so there will be a rota so that all clients and peers that are interested, will get to experience working on the farm.
The main reason for organising volunteering at the farm was to allow clients to see that there are community projects they can get involved in, which will address their isolation and boredom, one of the main causes of relapse.
It was great to see the peers and clients get stuck in and they all came away with a big smile on their faces and the will to return weekly. Upon leaving, Donna had to check the car to ensure no sneaky animals wanted to jump in as this is apparently very common with the rescued cats and dogs on the farm; unfortunately none tried to go home with them.
Peers and clients getting close to rescued animals that have been given a second chance, and being around like-minded people in the fresh air, made this activity a resounding success. Who doesn’t love animals?
Many of the animals have had a second chance at life, much like the peers and clients, so they can relate to them.
Read the full blog post here.
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