As part of the Neighbourhood Engagement team’s summer interventions , Neighbourhood Engagement Officer, Vikki Barry, arranged for some of the families from temporary accommodation schemes to visit the Donkey Sanctuary in Manchester. Ann Mothersdale, Activities Coordinator, at one of the schemes also helped organise this and went along with the tenants on the day.
This trip was planned for the families to promote health and wellbeing, education and volunteering opportunities for employment through care for animals.
The trip promoted the sanctuary to the families, helping them to see where they can go for low cost trips out to combat the pressure of financial hardship in the summer holidays. For some families this was the only trip out they had over the summer holidays due to their circumstances.
As part of our donation to the sanctuary on the day, a donkey was adopted for the temporary accommodation schemes. This has sparked an ongoing project where the children are entering a competition to name the donkey.
The feedback from the families was fantastic: the children thoroughly enjoyed the trip and explained that they want to go again very soon. The schemes hope to make this trip one they will do more often as the children gained so much from it.
