Help people by volunteering with animals
| Animals play a key role in the lives of many people around the world. They help people with day to day living, bringnig them joy through visits, helping them through therapy exercises & providing them with a livelihood. Animals have an amazing ability to reach those parts of us that many people can't reach - right into our hearts, at a stroke. It's like they have a direct line to our very being. The true animal lovers among you will know what I mean. An animal's love is absolutely pure. Consequently for these and other reasons, many of us will do things for animals we wouldn't perhaps do for people. And many animals, such as dogs, donkeys & horses whose temperaments are the right ones, can be trained to help people. Enter animal assistance therapies & specialist charities. Many animal assistance charities need volunteers around the UK to help them, and here are a few below. The help they require will clearly vary from charity to charity, as will the geographic spread of volunteers needed around the UK. Many - but not all - will have links to partner organisations around the world |
| The Cinnamon Trust have a network of volunteers to help the elderly & terminally ill only with pet care, including dog walking. The charity is always keen to hear from reliable, pet & people loving individuals who understand the very special & unique bond that exists between pets and their elderly owners, in particular. | |
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| Riding for the Disabled have thousands of volunteers who help people with disabilities enjoy achievement, have fun & therapy as they enjoy their time in the saddle or having a go at carriage driving. They have a variety of volunteer roles, such as the Session Volunteers who give support to riders & drivers by leading horses, side walking, helping them to mount etc, and coaches, instructing the sessions. There are other roles, too, so click here to find out more. |
| | Pets as Therapy cats & dogs visit half a million bedsides each year, giving smiles & unconditional love to animal lovers in hospitals, hospices, day care centres & care homes. If your dog or cat has the right temperament, they could volunteer with you! The charity's website can be accessed here |
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| Assistance Dog Charities Many of the assistance dog charities need puppy socialisers or puppy parents (terms will vary) to educate & socialise puppies in the first year of their lives. The idea is that you train the puppy for a year, giving him or her the socialising & training he needs; you'll probably get your pup used to going into places such as supermarkets, on trains, into the hairdressers, into schools & so on. At the end of that time, you'll pass them back for more advanced training. They may also need boarders, to help with emergency dog care, boarding on a B&B basis (at the weekends for instance) or when puppy socialisers or parents are having a holiday. Some of these opportunities are regional, other UK wide. If you can't do the hands-on dog stuff, there will be plenty else you can do to help. Some charities need drivers, gardeners, your professional expertise in the office, speaking at events, helping at events, and of course fund-raising. Some of the assistance dog charities, collectively known as Assistance Dogs UK, are listed below. |
| | Canine Partners need volunteers to help in all sorts of ways from fundraising to assistance dog training volunteer, puppy training, dog breeding, speaking and giving your professional skills. |
| | Dogs for Good need people who will work with their puppies to give them all the experience they need to start off on the road to becoming an assistance dog. they need puppy socialisers, and also temporary boarders, drivers, community fundraisers, speakers, events team members and more! Click here for info |
| | Guide Dogs need people to help with the dogs, fundraising, and supporting your local community. Find out how you can volunteer here |
| | Hearing Dogs for Deaf People need volunteers, such as Volunteer Dog Trainers and hearing dog mum fosterers. Other ways to volunteer include gardening at their training centres, speaking at events, using your professional skills to help their work and lived experience volunteering. |
| | Support Dogs train dogs to improve the quality of life of people with autism, epilepsy and disability. Support Dogs need people to look after their dogs full-time and evening and weekends in foster roles. They also need people to help with driving, office support and training centre support. For more ways in which you can help & get involved, click here |
| Service Dogs UK | |
| Veterans with Dogs I love their line, "Changing lives one wet nose at at a time". They empower former members of the British Armed Forces facing mental health challenges by pairing them with assistance dogs (expertly trained, of course). Find out more here. | |
| The Seeing Dogs Alliance The Alliance provides quality guide dogs to visually impaired people who need one. Their approach is a bit different to other organisations - find out more about them here | |
| Medical Detection Dogs The charity trains dogs to support people who have life-threatening health conditions. They also have bio detection dogs to improve the early diagnosis of cancer and other diseases. Quite amazing! Find out about volunteering here. | |
| Dogs for Autism The charity provides autism assistance dogs to autistic people in the UK. Join their PAWS+ team and make a difference - find out more here! | |
| Dog Aid Dog Aid empowers adults with physical/mobility based disabilities to train their own pet dog as an assistance dog. Sadly, they are at great risk of enclosure - find out more and how to help here. | |
| Darwin Dogs We provide dog training to adults disabled by mental health conditions, or on the autistic spectrum, who have their own dog, under the age of 3, and can demonstrate a need for specific training, tailored to their individual needs, conducted in their home or other location considered to be safe. Each client’s dog is trained specifically for them. | |