Have you herd about the fun at The Potteries and Ferndown Manor?

Home news

Feb 07, 2018

Residents were joined by some unusual friends for a therapeutic afternoon meeting alpacas.

Ferndown Manor and The Potteries residents had a fun filled day when they were visited by friendly faces from Copse View Alpacas.

Residents gathered in the communal lounge areas to welcome the alpacas, Oliver, Midnight Prince and Sirocco. The alpacas were even given a tour of the homes by their handler Wendy Williams where they also visited residents in their bedrooms.

As part of the session, residents learnt about the history and characteristics of alpacas, and were given a host of interesting facts about the animals.

Ferndown Manor home manager, Janet Lewis, said: “We are always looking to plan interesting and exciting activities for residents, and bringing pets such as cats and dogs into the home to meet residents has been proven to have many therapeutic benefits for older people.

“When the opportunity arose to welcome the herd from Copse View Alpacas to the home, we were excited to make this happen. There was a huge amount of interest when we announced the visit to residents. It was brilliant to have such a great turn out, and to see the residents engaged and asking questions about the friendly animals.”

Zita Turner, home manager at The Potteries, added: “Not many residents had seen an alpaca before, and you could see from residents’ reactions just how fascinated they were by the chance to get up close to and pet the gentle-natured creatures. It proved to be a real success, and the residents all enjoyed having a cuddle with Oliver and Sirocco as well as learning about how their fleece can be used to make all sorts of different clothing.

“Not only did the workshop fit really well with our ‘Activity Based Care’ approach here at The Potteries, it was also fantastic to see the smiles on everyone’s faces, and we believe it had real therapeutic benefits for residents – especially those living with dementia.”