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24 Hour Free Helpline 08000 194 400 | General Enquiries  01902 904 677
Donate

24 Hour Free Helpline 08000 194 400
General Enquiries  01902 904 677

Donate

Our children and young people take a day trip to the Alpaca farm

“I feel like a zookeeper…”

When COVID-19 happened, most of the women and children were quarantined in their refuge accommodation and they were unable to go out. All outdoor venues for activities were closed due to social distancing measures.

Our Children and Young People team got creative and found venues that could accommodate us exclusively for a day. Earlier feedback suggested that some of the children wanted to do something that involved animals, so one of the trips was to an alpaca farm.

The children and their mums were able to get respite and bond with each other outside of the refuge setting. They were able to go and enjoy the outdoors, whilst interacting with a variety of animals.

They were able to be hands-on with and learn about animals that they had never seen before including alpacas, donkeys, pigs, goats, ducks, meerkats, rabbits, and more.

Where: Lucky Tails Alpaca Farm
Who: 2 groups of women, children & young people from two of our refuge accommodations
Activities: 
  • Walking an alpaca
  • Meerkat encounter
  • Hands-on experience with farm animals

"I haven’t seen my children so happy in such a long time. Can't wait to come back."

– Sangeeta

"I feel like a zookeeper. I think I want to work with animals when I'm older."

– Kate

"Although I don’t have children, thank you for letting me come on the trip. I had so much fun and feel like I bonded with other residents."

– Marie

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When a child comes into one of our refuges they are greeted by a member of staff and given a welcome pack. The pack contains a gift, some information on the sessions we run in refuge and a meet-the-team profile to help children become familiar with the staff who will support them. We show children the play/sensory rooms and explain that we can hold one-to-one sessions and groups sessions.

Most importantly, we let the children know someone is always available, whenever they need to talk. We provide counselling sessions and play therapy sessions among other things with a dedicated team, trained to support children and young people. We understand that for a child, moving into a new environment, leaving behind all their familiar comforts can be especially difficult. We try our best to make life in refuge as “homely” as possible.

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