19/03/23 - If you are interested in painting with watercolour or would like to learn. I have a contact who is willing to teach free of charge anyone who is interested in learning. Please contact me and I will provide his details.
15/04/22 - Working at Harrier Grange Care Home, Andover today. This is a voluntary position with Therapy Dogs Nationwide (TDN).
It was our first visit and Koda was amazing. I was a little apprehensive about how he would react in this unfamiliar environment, but this soon dissipated when I saw Koda’s lovely nature come into full swing.
The residents and staff thought he was great and apart from thinking a bowl of porridge was his and taking a shine to the kitchen area, instead of mingling, he soon got use to settling down and ignoring the delicious smells that were wafting from the kitchen for the residents’ lunch.
It was a joy to see the smiles Koda brought to so many faces and the lovely stories the residents shared about their dogs.
We have been invited back and look forward to seeing the residents and staff again next month!
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03/04/22 - “Life is all about change. As human beings we can find ourselves holding onto the past, scared of what change will bring. However, by holding onto challenging historical experiences we can become trapped in our own thought process, which blocks us from living in the here and now.
Yes, change can be hard; although it can help us reach our goals and enable us to move forward and to let go of what was holding us back.” – Kathy Stelfox
31/12/21 - I am pleased to announce as from January 2022 I will be registered with Therapy Dogs Nationwide. This means I am fully insured to take my dog into establishments such as hospitals, hospices, residential homes, nursing homes, care centres, special needs schools, mainstream schools and prisons. Please contact Kathy for further information.
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03/10/21 - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommends healthy adults walk 10,000 steps a day, which is about five miles for most people. But in this study, 7,000 steps seem to be the magic number. (Those who walked at least 7,000 steps each day lowered their risk of dying.) And taking more than 10,000 steps a day did not improve participants’ chances of living longer.
The take-home message: These two studies seem to identify an ideal amount of daily exercise for prolonging your life: about 30 minutes or 7,000 steps a day. Exercising less than that amount may be correlated with a shorter lifespan. But exercising more than that may not provide any additional benefits.
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Bereavement, Grief and Loss - Useful resources
Cruse Bereavement Care/Hope Again: www.cruse.org.uk www.hopeagain.org.uk
Cruse Bereavement Care Scotland: www.crusescotland.org.uk
WAY Widowed and Young: www.widowedandyoung.org.uk
Samaritans: www.samaritans.org.uk
Winston’s Wish: www.winstonswish.org.uk
Grief Encounter: www.griefencounter.org
Miscarriage Association: www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk
The Compassionate Friends: www.tcf.org.uk
Useful contact details for Support organisations
Samaritans telephone: 116 123
The Mix for under 25's telephone: 0808 808 4994 - Open Sunday - Friday, 2pm - 11pm providing Crisis Messenger Service.
SANEline telephone: 0300 304 7000 - Open 4pm - 10.30pm every day.
Papyrus Hopelink UK telephone: 0800 068 4141 - Weekdays 10am - 10pm or Text 07786 209697
Campaign Against Living Miserably for men (CALM) telephone: 0800 585858
Switchboard for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender telephone: 0300 330 0630 Open 10am - 10pm every day. Operators identify as LGBT+
Codes of Practice and Membership of Professional Bodies
I am a member of the British Association of Counsellors & Psychotherapists, bound by their Ethical Framework of Practice and Disciplinary Code of Conduct which can be viewed by visiting www.bacp.co.uk
I am a Member of the UK Association of Transactional Analysis. www.uktransactionalanalysis.co.uk
