Brownies raise hundreds of pounds for Therapy Dogs Nationwide

A Brownie leader and therapy dog handler with Therapy Dogs Nationwide Julie Brown helped the excited Brownies at the café in Amersham on November 13.

People came to spend time and cuddle with the dogs while all the money raised went to the charity. 

More volunteers are needed as demand for therapy dogs currently outstrips the number of dogs available to help in Buckinghamshire, Juliet warned.

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She said: “The cost is very little, because they are family pets people take out, but there’s inevitably the support of getting those people to a point where they can take their dog to a hospital, assessing them for it and supporting them to get there.

“The main part is to be able to expand it and hopefully get more therapy dogs.

“In Buckinghamshire particularly, we just don’t have enough therapy dogs.”

Amy with therapy dog Luna (left), Maya and Marley (Image: Juliet Brown)

More local dogs are desperately needed, as currently therapy dogs and their owners have to travel to Buckinghamshire from Enfield, South London and Oxford.  

Julie gets requests through TDN from care homes, other wards in hospitals, schools and elsewhere, but she has to say no “because you can only visit so many places, but I know there are places currently waiting for a therapy dog,” she said.

Although doctors and nurses are needed because “dogs can’t fix everything”, Juliet has witnessed the therapy dogs’ impact on sick children, and “our state of mind and optimism and how we feel about ourselves, and it cheers people up.”

“And therefore, it is a very important part of those children’s recovery.”

Seeing the amount of support and how busy the café was a “wow moment” for the Brownie leader, whose own daughter Maya’s mental health improved thanks to her own therapy dog Marley.

She said: “Dogs don’t judge do they, so when people are feeling sad or upset or depressed and people don’t like to confide in adults as humans will always have an opinion, dogs can just listen and he knows when someone needs a cuddle.

Marley with the Pendse family (left); the Brownies selling Christmas crafts (Image: Juliet Brown)

“There is research that stroking a dog releases endorphins and relieves stress so that’s how he’s helped her when she’s feeling anxious.

The Amersham café ran by  the 2nd Amersham on the Hill Brownies club and 1st Chesham Bois Brownies was a “huge success”.

The Brownies, aged seven to ten, raised more than £1,500.

“We went into it to raise money, but what really hit me was the sense of community and that lovely feeling that came from it, and the excitement of the children running it – they were on cloud nine,” Juliet added.

Keen dog owners can find more information about volunteering on Therapy Dogs Nationwide website here.

Brownies welcoming guests at the Amersham cafe (Image: Juliet Brown)