THERAPET
Managed by Canine Concern Scotland Trust
Scottish Charity No: SC014924
"WE care for Dogs... and DOGS care for us!!"
CANINE CONCERN SCOTLAND TRUST 27TH ANNUAL AWARDS
The Presentation and Awards Luncheon took place on Sunday 15th November 2015 at the Kaim Park Hotel, Bathgate.
Awards were made to individuals in the following catogaries: -
Picture Above; L to R ~
Patron Rosemary Long and Patricia McMahon with Bruce
(Dog Food kindly donated by; Burns Pet Nutrition Ltd)
Picture Above; L to R ~
Patron Rosemary Long and Area Representative Marion Livingston
(Dog Food kindly donated by; Burns Pet Nutrition Ltd)
Picture Above; L to R ~
Patron Rosemary Long and Marion Findlay from the Edinburgh Volunteer Centre
Spencer Award for Therapet of The Year
This award was donated by Tom and Dorothy Wilkins, whose Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, SPENCER, was the very first dog to be registered in the Therapet scheme, way back in 1988.
This year we received 10 nominations in respect of Therapets all of whom do magnificent work and of whom their owners can be justifiably proud. Unfortunately there can only be one winner and the selection of the winner falls to our Trustees to decide – a very difficult task indeed! In fact only eight of our Trustees vote – the ninth, the Chairman, is held in reserve for a casting vote in case of a tie for the award. It is interesting to note that once again this year a casting vote was not required although this year the voting for winner and runner-up was again extremely close
All nominated Therapets receive a certificate of nomination and a special rosette.
The WINNER of THERAPET OF THE YEAR FOR 2015 is Boxer “BRUCE” very proudly owned by Patricia McMahon of Bellshill, Glasgow.
Bruce was nominated by staff in:-
Ward 3 Wishaw General Hospital,
The Glen Orchy and Glen Nevis Ward of Coathill Hospital in Coatbridge and The Dementia Club in Ward 10 of Wishaw general Hospital.
Bruce was first registered as a Therapet in May 2013 and has proved to be a highly adaptable and reliable Therapet.
In addition to the three institutions that have nominated him Bruce also:-
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Visits a secure unit called “Beckford Lodge” ~ this is a forensic unit in Hamilton,
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Attended numerous Paws Against Stress events in Glasgow,
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Worked with children with special needs and recently attended the “Time to Shine” event in Glasgow with disadvantage children.
Bruce is a seriously busy Therapet and Patricia a seriously busy Volunteer!
Among the commendations on the nomination forms were:-
From Ward 3 Wishaw General Hospital:
“Patients, especially ones who have had pets throughout their lives, gain a great deal of comfort and joy at having close contact with the dog and therapist in this service. The therapist is always will to engage in conversation with the patients re the dog and hear their stories of the patients’ pets from the past.”
From the Coathill hospital:
“Bruce has been visiting Glen Orchy and Glen Nevis Ward for approximately 3 years. The patients look forward to him visiting the ward. He is very patient and friendly, enjoying staff and patients petting him and making him welcome in the ward. Bruce has a good temperament, he brings comfort and companionship to the patients, he is calm and he brings happiness to the ward environment.”
From the Dementia Club:
Bruce attends “the Club” at Wishaw General Hospital every second Wednesday afternoon. The patients love him visiting and look forward to seeing him especially if they have been in a few weeks or have had dogs or have dogs at home. Patricia is very good and very accommodating. If we phone her and ask her if she can come in on an extra day she will if she can. If we have an event she and Bruce will attend if they can. They helped out at the Dementia Awareness week by coming and sitting with us at our stall at the front door. The Club were finalists in Dementia Scotland 2015. It is always a pleasure having Patricia and Bruce come to our activity group known as “the Club”. Bruce is on NHS Facebook page
Patron Rosemary Long with Therapet volunteer
Barbara Cooney and Harris
Therapet Organiser of The year
This award was donated in memory of a very special gentleman and his very special dog Dr Morris Andrew and Daniel the Spaniel!! It was made by members of his family who agreed that it should go to the Therapet Organiser of the Year since Morris himself, as well as being a Trustee, represented Edinburgh for many years.
The Award is not voted on. The Administration Team decide on the recipient. It is not an easy choice. We have so many wonderful people around Scotland who give of their valuable time and do magnificent work for the Trust and have made the Therapet Service the success it is. We thank them all.
The winner this year was our Area Representative for the Borders MARION LIVINGSTONE.
Marion joined as a Therapet volunteer in 2009 with her Whippet Benji and they became very
enthusiastic and regular Therapet visitors to St Aidans in Gattonside. In 2013 Marion was persuaded to take on the role of Area Representative and in a short space of time she has revitalised the Therapet Service in the Borders. She has steadily built a team of volunteers and Therapets, one of which has been nominated this year for Therapet of the Year. Marion is building great relationships with the various homes and hospitals in the area along with other organisations such as SWRI. She has managed to get some great publicity for the Trust and the Therapet Service.
In addition to the very large Borders area Marion has also stepped in to help with the Dumfries area where we are currently looking for someone to replace Maureen Hill who, for family reasons, had to give up her post.
In spite of her hearing difficulties Marion communicates extremely well with her volunteers and she keep the office very well informed about all that is happening in her area.
All in all Marion is a great success, we appreciate everything that she is doing, and she is a very worthy winner of the Therapet Organiser of the Year Award 2015.
L to R ~ Patron Rosemary Long and Area Representative Vivien Moen
(Dog Food kindly donated by; Burns Pet Nutrition Ltd)
Miss Matty Award
This year Rebecca Castelo of Inverness raised £434.75 for the Trust. Rebecca and her Therapet Poppy walked the Great Glen Way from Fort William to Inverness camping along the way.
Ki-Chu-Asha Stars of Hope
Memorial Trophy
The Ki-Chu-Asha Stars of Hope Memorial Trophy, which was donated by Jean Llamo is for the organiser whose walk raised the most money. This year it has been won, yet again, by our very hard working Area Representative for Badenoch & Strathspey, Vivien Moen. Her walk this year has raised £650.
Iain Whyte Memorial Award
The prestigious IAIN WHYTE MEMORIAL AWARD, donated by Betty Lawson-Whyte in memory of her first husband who was a great admirer of the work carried out by Canine Concern Scotland Trust.
The award is made to a person or organisation whose work has been of special benefit to the Trust over the past year or over a period of years. Over the years some very special people and organisations have been given the award.
This year the award is being made to an organisation that has been instrumental in assisting us with the Therapet Service.
In Edinburgh the Volunteer Centre has a Volunteering Hub within the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. The Hub is responsible for co-ordinating all volunteer services within the hospital. An excellent working relationship has been established between Trustee and Area Representative Douglas Ruthven and the Hub. We have a great team of Therapet volunteers allocated to the Hospital and the Hub organises them and arranges their placements within the hospital. This is a great help to Douglas as all he has to do is to introduce new Therapet Volunteers to the Hub and the Hub does the rest. It all works extremely well, those working within the Hub have been extremely positive and the Therapet Service is a significant part of the overall volunteering services within the hospital.
Marion Findlay and Kat Kane from the Edinburgh Volunteer Centre accepted the IAIN WHYTE MEMORIAL AWARD on behalf of the Volunteering Hub.
The inscription reads:
With gratitude and in recognition of the work
carried out in connection with the
establishment, expansion and promotion
of the Therapet Service within the Hospital.
20year Service Awards
A few years ago the Trustees introduced 20 year service awards for members who had given 20 or more years of active participation in the Trust’s work. At that point we presented awards to 15 members and we have made a number of similar awards since.
This year two members qualified:- Sharon Johnstone of Glasgow, and Fiona Stalker, of Banchory. For many years Sharon was a member of the Committee of Management and was a brilliant organiser of the Obedience section of our annual companion dog show. She has been involved in school visits and she help James Macdonald with the assessment of potential Therapets. Over the years she has been much involved the Kirkintilloch Dog Training Club which has given great support to the Trust. Fiona has been, and continues to be, one of our most loyal and regular Therapet volunteers – she visits no less than four institutions in Banchory.
Special Award
This year we have a Special Award to make or order to mark the retirement as a Trustee of Rita Percival. Rita served as a Trustee for 15 years and she brought with her valuable business skills and long experience as a breeder and exhibitor of dogs. Her first love was Boxers but in recent years she has had, and continues to have, much success with Shih Tzus. The Trustees wish to thank Rita for her wise counsel over this long period of time and to present her with this token of our appreciation
Patron Rosemary Long with Therapet volunteers present on the day
Jan Haigh & Nell and John Kerr & JJ
(Dog Food kindly donated by; Burns Pet Nutrition Ltd)
Patron Rosemary Long with Area Representative Linda Macdonald
On Behalf of Fiona Stalker & Poppy
Spencer Award for Therapet of The Year
"Runners Up"
The very close RUNNER-UP for Therapet of the Year, is “HARRIS” a Curly Coated Retriever who is owned by Barbara Cooney of Kelty in Fife.
Harris is 10 ½ and has just retired after six years as a regular visitor to Benarty View Care Home in Kelty, Fife – he is handing over to his young protégé Coco.
Harris was nominated by Kerry Lynch of the home and by Catherine Miller whose mother is a resident in the home.
Harris wrote in support of his nomination:-
“I have had a great time over the last six years visiting people at Benarty View where I get lots of claps, hugs and kisses from all the residents and staff. I have also visited a lady called Florence who is no longer with us but the short time I visited her was very special as she loved dogs. I have also visited a home in Leslie where the residents always looked forward to my visit after lunch on a Tuesday. When I visited St Andrew’s University I thought I had died and gone to heaven! I just lay on the floor surrounded by beautiful young women who just wanted to cuddle and kiss me. The handsome young men just stroked me! I also visited a lady in our village called Margaret who had Motor Neurons – on her good days she would come and visit me at home and have coffee with us but sadly she is no longer with us.
I also do lots of Therapet on a daily basis when walking around Fife and Edinburgh and all over Scotland. We stop and Barbara talks to people who always make a fuss of me, sometimes we are the only people they talk to all day. I feel I make lots of peoples day complete because after fussing me they go off with big smiles on their faces.”
Kerry Lynch added “When Harris comes into the home he goes round every unit to see every resident. They all like to see Harris, they like to clap him and they always have smiles on their faces.”
Harris is a very worthy runner-up to Therapet of the Year.
The SECOND RUNNER-UP for Therapet of the Year is is “POPPY” a Tri-Colour Collie owned by Fiona Stalker from Banchory in Aberdeenshire. Poppy, who was registered in 2009, was nominated by Janis Wemyss, Activities Team Leader at Inchmarlo House, Banchory. Poppy visits there every week. She also visits the Scolty Day Care Centre, Bellfield Nursing Home and Glen O’Dee Hospital. A very busy Therapet with a dedicated owner.
Other Therapet’s nominated who did not quite make it into the first three places are each presented with a certificate of nomination and a special rosette. [N1]
“Bill” Gillian Diplexcito’s Bedlington Terrier from Fife
“Bud” Carol Mclean’s Labrador from Perthshire
“Daisy” Wilma Hutchison’s Sprocker from Perthshire
“Frankie” Julie Grieve’s American Cocker Spaniel from the Borders
“Guy” Susan Morrison’s Labrador from Inverness
“Nell” Jan Haigh’s Border Collie from Perthshire
“JJ” John Kerr’s Cross Breed from East Kilbride
"All photos courtesy of Barking Cat Pet Photography"
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