Launching a partnership with the Donkey Sanctuary
Recently, a few members of the Alliance team visited the Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth — specifically, their Centre for Donkey Assisted Activities/Therapy. We met with the team, and of course the main characters of our visit, the donkeys!
“Here at the Donkey Sanctuary our work transforms lives. We provide lifesaving veterinary care, we train vets and we educate current and future donkey owners. We deliver donkey assisted therapy to support children and adults with special educational needs or those suffering from chronic illness. And, of course, we provide sanctuary to donkeys who have been neglected, abused and abandoned.”
Donkeys are very sensitive creatures who are intuitive, present, and in tune with their environment. They react to our change of behaviours. The Donkey Sanctuary is an animal charity with a great mission — not only to provide a variety of services for donkeys and humans, but also generally to encourage people to change their attitude towards animals as a whole.
The centre is able to offer a variety of activities, including Donkey-Facilitated Learning (DFL), Wellbeing with Donkeys (WWD), and the Donkey Management Programme (DMP). They also help support staff with their wellbeing, which is a really important part of our work. Clients and professionals can access the activities via a referral pathway/form. Individual wellbeing days/afternoons or standalone sessions are additional options when working with the Donkey Sanctuary.
We really enjoyed the therapeutic environment — the team provide person-centred care, but with the happiness and welfare of the donkeys taking part in sessions as their top priority. Being outdoors, influenced by the presence of the donkeys and focusing on self-care — not only for us, but also for the donkeys and their wellbeing — has really made this visit very special.
Every session involves some form of mindfulness activity or grounding technique. The activities provided can be transferred into everyday life, helping to give mental health service users a sense of self which can help with their self-awareness, confidence, managing emotions, and much more. All sessions are private and confidential.
We really understood how important the welfare and care of the donkeys were. For an animal charity to be able to then offer the assisted therapy is a really great offer, so we look forward to our working relationship with the Donkey Sanctuary.